On today’s show, we’re sitting down with Republican State Senator Michael Lee.
First, we’ll tackle opportunity scholarships — that’s a program that effectively allows parents to claw back taxes paid towards public education and spend that money on private schools.
Then, the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which includes a provision requiring schools to notify parents if their children change their pronouns — and another section banning the teaching of gender and sexuality from the curriculum in kindergarten through fourth grade.
Links:
- Opportunity Scholarships
- NC spends $133M on private school vouchers. Lawmakers are proposing much more (WUNC, 2023)
- What we know — and don’t — about discrepancies in NC school voucher program (WFAE, 2023)
- NC Senate Republicans approve controversial 'Parents' Bill of Rights' (WUNC, 2023)
- Senate Bill 49 — Parents' Bill of Rights
- North Carolina Budget — Opportunity Scholarship expansion (page 187)
- Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom — Caitlin Ryan, UNCW
- The Carolina Journal article written by Woody White about Caitlin Ryan, who organized a protest against Sen. Lee after he was awarded UNCW's 'Razor Walker' award: For roots of classroom radicalism, look no further than university teacher training
Funding metrics
There are a lot of different ways to measure funding for public education. Many, as Sen. Lee pointed out in our interview, rank states on a combination of state and local funding for students — although that's often an average, since local funding can vary (for example, New Hanover County provides more funding than most other counties around North Carolina). Based on those metrics, North Carolina often ranks in the lower middle of the pack.
According to arecent report from BestNC, a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of business leaders who advocate for education, North Carolina ranks 38th in the nation for combined funding, and 12th in state-only funding.
Another metric is 'effort,' which represents education funding as a percentage of the state's GDP. According to reporting last year from EdNC, North Carolina ranked low — if not the lowest — in recent years.
Most ranking methodologies account for inflation, but few adjust for regional cost of living (which can vary significantly both between and within states). Covid-relief funding is not included in most recent reports.
