A Message from Parents: Stop NC Voucher Money, Republicans

“This could end very badly.”

That’s the sentiment I get in conversations with parents, educators and policymakers frustrated by the NC House’s efforts to slow the expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program, the state’s flagship school choice program.

Provisions to expand it are included in the House budget bill negotiated this week with leaders of both chambers. What began as a major legislative victory for school choice has slowly turned into a mere illusion for many parents, families, and school leaders.

Last September’s budget bill included a provision making all North Carolinians eligible for Opportunity Scholarships. Lawmakers were praised for responding to parents’ demand for educational options. They were also warned last fall of the expected increase in the number of applications and the need to make additional funds available to meet the increased demand.

In March, 72,000 new applicants flooded the website of the public agency that administers the program. In response to this request, the Senate voted in May to appropriate $248 million for additional opportunity grants and about $25 million to eliminate the backlog of ESA+ grants, which help meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Many hoped the House would do the same. This does not happen. Instead, the House included the Opportunity Scholarship expansion as part of the budget bill. The slowdown has wreaked havoc on fall plans for families and schools. Families are unsure if they have the funds to pay school fees. Schools don’t know how many new teachers to hire. All that is certain now is uncertainty.

The latest reports suggest that a budget bill won’t be finalized until this fall — if it ever is — which means the only hope for kids on the Opportunity Scholarship waitlist appears to be immediate action by the legislature.

Lawmakers have dragged their feet twice on expanding funding for Opportunity Scholarships. Today, the House has chosen to make it a bargaining chip in budget negotiations.

Speaker Tim Moore and other House leaders have expressed support for expanding Opportunity Scholarships. The House and Senate expansion totals are nearly identical. If both legislative bodies agree on increased funding, why not just pass a separate, standalone bill and end the frustration of thousands of families and school leaders?

Voters are not ignorant. They know how politics works and how much it takes gifts to get various lawmakers on their side. But the educational opportunities of thousands of children are an unacceptable bargaining chip. This year’s “special appropriations” total is about half of last year’s $1.2 billion, but still too high.

Parental choice in education is a winning issue for North Carolina conservatives. According to a January Carolina Journal poll, Opportunity Scholarships, education savings accounts and charter schools have support levels of 64%, 73% and 66%, respectively. Rising enrollment in charter, private and home schools is evidence of this.

Admittedly, conservative and Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate have expanded parental choice policies. At a time when voters view Republicans more favorably than Democrats on education, Republicans appear determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Earlier this week, a man who runs a private school called my office to express his frustration with lawmakers over the expansion of Opportunity Scholarships. He left a message and before hanging up he said, “No one can care.” »

Lawmakers do not understand the scale and intensity of the frustration.

Tying expansion to the budget process would alienate voters, many of whom are politically engaged and frustrated by lawmakers’ failure to deliver on promises or solve a problem created by their inaction.

It is never wise to go back on a promise, especially four months before an election.

Robert Luebke is director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh.