The North Carolina General Assembly is scheduled to gavel in this week to vote on clearing the 55,000 family waitlist for Opportunity Scholarships. The OSP program provides between $3,300 and $7,500 per year to families paying for a private school. Language in the state legislature’s budget last year opened the program to all North Carolina families on a sliding scale with money serving those with the lowest incomes first.
In an agreement unveiled last week, the chambers plan to address the shortfall in last year’s budget that left 55,000 families on a waiting list despite passage of “universal school choice.” However, the House must have the votes to pass a “mini-budget” (Senate Bill 10) with the OSP funding in it, but they must also have a three-fifths supermajority in order to override a likely veto from Gov. Roy Cooper.
On Thursday, Cooper joined Democratic legislators at a news conference calling for the General Assembly to reject the Opportunity Scholarship Program, saying it is a “scheme” and that money should be funneled into existing traditional public schools instead.
“I’m not against private schools,” said Cooper, who provided his own children with a private education. “Many of them are meeting the needs of students and families, but I am against taking taxpayer money out of the public schools and giving it to the private schools and our public schools already have so many needs.”
OSP scholarships are not funded from public school money, but rather as a separate item in the state budget. Last year, state lawmakers made North Carolina the ninth state with universal school choice on the books by expanding the Opportunity Scholarship Program. If the General Assembly passes the funding bill, North Carolina would become the only state in the nation to have both universal school choice and a Democratic governor.
Senate Republicans passed House Bill 823 in May that would have fully funded OSP, but the House never took it up. The agreement bill under consideration combines several priorities of the Republican-led legislature, including requiring sheriffs to cooperate with federal ICE officials, funding increases for public school and community college enrollment growth, Medicaid rebase funding, and rural broadband authorization.
“As North Carolina families grapple with rising costs and economic uncertainty thanks to the failed policies of the Biden-Harris administration, it is our responsibility as lawmakers to remain committed to responsible spending and economic growth,” said NC House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland. “This mini-budget agreement will fund our K-12 and community college enrollment growth, clear the Opportunity Scholarship waitlist to expand school choice to all NC families, will increase funding to keep our Medicaid system fully funded, and will authorize new rural broadband expansion across the state.”
Data from North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction show that North Carolina’s traditional public school students remain at just 50% proficiency in reading for third through eighth grade, up slightly over last year, but not yet to pre-pandemic levels.
It is a data point that OSP advocates say highlights many parents’ critical need for an alternative educational environment for their kids. They anticipate that the program would infuse lower-income areas with education money and create a surge of private school options to meet a growing market demand.
“While disappointing that it took so long, we are encouraged that the legislature has decided to address fully funding the expanded Opportunity Scholarship Program,” said Brian Balfour, vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation. “The overwhelming demand for the scholarships underscores the hunger North Carolina families have for educational choice. A strong majority of North Carolinians believe parents should have more decision rights over where their children go to school, and the OSP helps empower more parents to tailor their child’s education to best meet their needs.”
The North Carolina House is scheduled to vote on the measure Wednesday.
“Families across North Carolina made it clear that they want a greater say in their child’s education. Whether you’re a single parent, a young family, or in a military household, educational freedom should be attainable for all,” said Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.
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