The Choose Your School, Choose Your Future bill, co-sponsored by Republican Senator Michael Lee from New Hanover County, makes all students eligible for the Opportunity Scholarship.
The scholarship uses taxpayer money to help families making under a certain income pay for private school tuition.
Initially, recipients had to be coming from public school or applying in kindergarten or first grade. This new bill makes it so any student can apply, even if they’ve always attended private school.
At the press conference for the bill, Lee said that gives families more options — like how his children needed different education systems.
“Our children are very different,” he said. “And to me, personally, it’s unfair that all parents and all children in North Carolina don’t have that same option.”
The scholarship amount is tiered. Families who qualify for free and reduced lunch receive the full scholarship amount. According to WUNC, the wealthiest families — making over $231,000 — would receive 45% of the scholarship.
The bill also creates an early graduation scholarship: an optional three-year track for students to graduate early and receive money toward higher education.
Critics of the bill say it directs public money towards schools that lack oversight and could have any number of discriminatory policies.
Many private schools in North Carolina are religious, for example, possibly restricting access for LGBTQ+ children, or for children who don’t follow that religion.
In response to a question about this concern, Lee said the focus should be on what’s right for the child. He also said private schools still have to follow federal laws about non-discrimination.
That's true when it comes to race, but unless private schools accept federal money, Title IX rules on sex discrimination don't apply. There are also 'morality codes' at private and charter schools which could be viewed as discriminatory.
As for worries over lesser oversight for private schools, Lee said the final accountability for a school should be with the family and their child. He said that accountability is “stripped away” when they don’t have a choice in schools.
Some critics are concerned the bill would take away funding from public education.
That funding loss could be ameliorated if the Leandro suit — reported on here by WRAL — against the General Assembly goes through. That would mean the state legislature would have to pay millions of dollars to the public schools.
But with the Republican-majority state Supreme Court, that seems unlikely to happen.
William Keegan Storrs, 2022 NC Charter School Teacher of the Year, was in attendance at the press conference. He questioned Lee about the effects of the bill on teacher vacancies, as it could take away funding for public teachers’ salaries.
Lee said the early graduate scholarship could help students achieve their teaching certificates earlier on — and with the help of the funding.
Republicans have a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate, so the bill is likely to pass.
