RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Senate Republicans called Wednesday for the largest expansion of the state's private school voucher program since it was created, saying all families should qualify for at least some money regardless of income.
Senate Bill 406 would remove the program’s current income caps, replacing them with a sliding scale that would let any family get a voucher, called an Opportunity Scholarship, of up to $3,246.
From there the bill sets up a tiered system with families making less money eligible for larger scholarships, up to $7,213 a year.
The award figures would change annually based on the average amount the state spends, per pupil, on public schools.
“We're not funding schools, we're funding children,” Sen. Michael Lee, the Republican lawmaker sponsoring the bill alongside two other Republican lawmakers.
On Wednesday, North Carolina Senate and House Republicans explained their push to expand the state’s private school voucher program. The North Carolina House has a similar bill to the Senate’s version.
“I’ve been a teacher, I've been a principal, I can tell you that one size fits all in education does not work for every child in North Carolina,” Rep. Tricia Cotham, a sponsor of the House version of the bill.
Cotham recently switched parties from Democrat to Republican.
The program works by providing students vouchers that are equal or less than how much the state would have spent on them if they decided on public schools. This is called the State per pupil allocation.
This year Opportunity Scholarships recipients are eligible for up to about $6,492 hundred dollars.
Under current rules, a family of four who makes at or under $55,500 could take up to $6,492 in voucher dollars and take that money and apply towards private school tuition.
The new bill would expand that to wealthier families making them eligible for anywhere between $2,500 hundred to $3,900 hundred off their private school bill.
It would also work on a tiered system allowing students with a lower income to qualify for up to 100% of the State per pupil allocation. The more a family makes the lower percentage they qualify for. Qualifications tiers go from funding 100%, 90%, 60% and 45% of per pupil spending.
Critics of the bill are asking how private schools would be held accountable for student achievement.
Unlike traditional public and charter schools’ students at private schools in North Carolina aren’t required to take state tests or be subject to letter grades and put on improvement plans. They are required to take a federal standardized test.
“The final accountability of the education of any student is the student and their family,” Lee said. “And unfortunately, that accountability is stripped away from them when they live in a particular zip code and have to go to one school -- that parent doesn't have a choice.”
The North Carolina Association of Educators opposes the bill.
“The role of our state government is to ensure access to that education, but the expansion of vouchers for those who can afford to send their students to private schools will only perpetuate a system that deprives those communities most in need of resources,” NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a statement.
Senate Bill 406 passed a committee vote and is now headed to its next committee.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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