NC legislative leaders seek release of voucher funds for coming school year without NC Supreme Court ruling

North Carolina’s Senate and House leaders have asked the state’s highest court to release public money for private school vouchers while uncertainty remains about the constitutionality of the program.

In a court document filed Tuesday, attorneys for the legislative leaders and several parents argue that families face uncertainty about the coming school year, with no ruling from the N.C. Supreme Court yet on the voucher program’s future.

The court heard arguments for and against the use of public money at private and religious schools in late February. Though many anticipated a ruling from the N.C. justices in June, the court did not release one. The next scheduled release date for opinions is Aug. 21.

By then, the lawmakers and parents involved in the lawsuit contend, students who would be eligible for the program — if it is revived by the N.C. justices — would have already had to contract with the private schools they planned to attend.

The voucher program, struck down by Judge Robert Hobgood in August 2014, would have provided low-income families who wanted to send their children to private schools as much as $4,200 annually in taxpayer dollars. Hobgood declared it a violation of the North Carolina Constitution, saying “appropriating taxpayer funds to unaccountable schools does not accomplish a public purpose.”

Hobgood also ruled the program invalid because it doesn’t require that private K-12 schools meet state teaching standards. Some private schools do not require teachers to have a high school diploma, nor do they make criminal background checks mandatory.

In September 2014, after an appeal of the Hobgood ruling, the N.C. Court of Appeals agreed to release state money that had been awarded to families to send their children to private or religious schools before Hobgood declared the voucher program unconstitutional.

The decision meant that the 1,878 students who had already accepted vouchers could receive the grants, but the ruling also prevented the release of new vouchers awarded after Hobgood announced his ruling in Wake County Superior Court on Aug. 21.

In October, the N.C. Supreme Court unexpectedly moved to take the voucher case, meaning the legal case skipped a step at the N.C. Court of Appeals.

In December, the state Supreme Court decided to fast-track the case and allow preparations for the coming year. That meant the State Education Assistance Authority, which administers the program, could accept and screen scholarship applications and hold a lottery determining which students would receive the money if the court signs off and lawmakers follow through with funding.

This past school year, according to court document filed on Tuesday for Phil Berger, the N.C. Senate president pro tempore, and Tim Moore, the N.C. House speaker, 1,100 scholarship recipients were able to use vouchers at 306 schools. The legislators’ court filing contends that uncertainty over the future of the program kept the number of participating schools at a lower number than anticipated.

As of June 23, the State Education Assistance Authority had received applications from 2,700 eligible applicants hoping to join the 1,100 selected last year who used the vouchers at private schools.

The attorneys for Berger, Moore and parents who appealed the Hobgood decision contend the “program has already been undercut for one school year” and urge the justices “not to let it be undermined for a second year.”

The challengers of the voucher program have until July 1 to respond to the request.

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 7:17 PM with the headline "NC legislative leaders seek release of voucher funds for coming school year without NC Supreme Court ruling."