In the News
As the source for parental school choice in our state, PEFNC is often asked to provide commentary on educational choice.
NC offers private-school vouchers to 13,500 new students but says about 40,000 are out
April 1, 2024
North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship program delivered good news to some families and bad news to many others this weekend.
After lifting the income cap and increasing the size of the scholarships, the state saw a surge of demand. Roughly 72,000 students applied for the scholarships for 2024-25. The scholarships provide state money to defray the cost of private-school tuition.
The State Education Assistance Authority notified 13,511 students whose families earn the least that they’re eligible if they attend a participating school next year. Their families have until April 19 to accept or decline.
The authority also announced this weekend that even with almost $192 million allotted, that won’t be enough to offer scholarships to about 40,000 students whose families are in the top income brackets.
That sets up an election-year battle over the voucher program. Republican leaders have promoted the expanded program as a chance to increase options and let all taxpayers take their child’s share of education money — sometimes dubbed “backpack funding” — to whatever school they choose.
The budget approved in 2023 includes annual increases, reaching more than $500 million by 2031. The GOP holds a veto-proof majority and could use the 2024 short session, which convenes later this month, to add money for the coming year.
The bright future of school choice in North Carolina
March 21, 2024
For years, parents across North Carolina have demanded greater access to schools and learning environments that would better meet their children’s interests, talents and needs. Now, these demands have transformed into new opportunities.
Late last year, the North Carolina legislature heeded parents’ calls, expanding the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program so that all families could apply for scholarships to make private schooling more affordable. On Feb. 1, 2024, the state opened applications to the program for the first time since its expansion. Just minutes after going live, the application website crashed due to the overwhelming rush of newly eligible parents who were eager to apply.
The website was quickly repaired, and enthusiasm for school choice in the Tarheel State has only grown since. Since its inception in 2013, the Opportunity Scholarship program has grown from serving just over 1,200 students in 2014 to serving more than 32,000 students a decade later.
NC lawmakers could boost Opportunity Scholarship funding in short session
March 20, 2024
Leaders in the General Assembly say they are in discussions over whether to boost funding for the Opportunity Scholarship Program due to surging demand.
Around 72,000 new applications were received for the upcoming school year for Opportunity Scholarships, a program that provides between $3,360 and $7,468 a year to allow families to choose a private school education for their kids. Beginning this year, scholarships are prioritized based on four income tiers, with the lowest earning households receiving first priority.
Lawmakers are set to convene for the short session of the General Assembly in late April. The short session’s primary goal is to make budget adjustments for the two-year biennium, in addition to dealing with non-fiscal bills that made the crossover deadline from the 2023 long session.
High demand means tens of thousands may be shut out of NC school vouchers
March 11, 2024
Critics of North Carolina’s school voucher programs like to say that even millionaires can now get public money to help pay their children’s private-school tuition. And technically that’s true, since the General Assembly voted this summer to remove income caps for Opportunity Scholarships.
But the state has seen a surge of applications for 2024-25, when the new rules kick in. State officials and advocates say that could mean that about 40,000 applicants will be told they can’t get the scholarships because they make too much money.
“Quite frankly the chances of getting into Tier 3 look to me to be pretty slim at this point,” said Brian Jodice of the school choice advocacy group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. He’s referring to an income level that starts at about $115,000 for a family of four.
The new plan says everyone is eligible for scholarships, which range from $3,360 to $7,468 depending on income. But if there’s not enough money to go around — which hasn’t been an issue in previous years — first priority goes to current scholarship recipients and new applicants from lower-income families.
Elusive voucher school has a new address in Harrisburg — and students are there
By Ann Doss Helms
March 7, 2023
A Charlotte private school that gets North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship money but didn't seem to have a location lists a new address in Cabarrus County. After checking seven previous addresses for Teaching Achieving Students Academy with no sign of a school, I found a small group of students working at the school’s newest address in Harrisburg.
“We’ve been everywhere that we said we’d be,” the school’s headmistress, who goes by Fanisha Cowan and Fanisha Locke, said Wednesday. She declined to discuss the matter in any detail, saying her students were learning and it wasn’t appropriate to interrupt.
Breaking Records & Helping with School Searches
The Opportunity Scholarship Program shows overwhelming demand! |
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We witnessed an incredible demand for the newly expanded Opportunity Scholarship program this year!
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North Carolina Superintendent Race: A Crucial Pivot for Public Education's Future
By Salman Khan
March 4, 2024
As North Carolina prepares for a pivotal election, the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction emerges as a central battlefield for the future of public education. Five candidates, two Republicans and three Democrats, have thrown their hats into the ring, each bringing distinct visions for steering the state's education system amidst growing debates over parents' rights, school choice, and teacher welfare.
More than 70,000 NC families want a new private school voucher. Who will get one?
A record-breaking total of nearly 72,000 families applied this year for state funding to help them pay for the cost for attending a North Carolina private school, making it unlikely all of them will get the money they want.
State lawmakers overhauled the Opportunity Scholarship program to allow any family to apply this year for a private school voucher. The result is a more than 500% increase in applications this year over the 11,617 applications that were received in February 2023.
Demand remained high from the start of the application period on Feb. 1 to its end on Friday evening. The N.C. State Education Assistance Authority said the number of applications exceeds the $293.5 million in state funding currently available for vouchers.
“We anticipated an incredible surge in applications for the Opportunity Scholarship Program based on what we heard from parents, families, and school communities since the eligibility expansion was passed by the state legislature last year,” Mike Long, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, said in an email Tuesday.
State Treasurer comments on school vouchers
March 1, 2024
State of North Carolina Treasurer and Republican candidate for governor, Dale Folwell says time will tell on how the statewide Opportunity Scholarship Program will affect funding for public schools.
“In your life, you can’t manage what you can’t measure, and I think that applies to this issue,” Folwell said. He is waiting to see data that shows just how school vouchers will impact public school systems statewide. While supporters praise the newly expanded Opportunity Scholarship, critics say it could have devastating effects on public school systems, especially rural ones like Beaufort County.
“Anything that is getting a taxpayer dollar needs to be held to the same level of transparency, and same level of accountability,” Folwell said.
What's at stake for education in the NC superintendent of public instruction race?
February 29, 2024
Two Republicans and three Democrats are running for North Carolina superintendent — a role overseeing the state’s public education system.
According to Dani Parker Moore, the director of the Schools, Education and Society minor at Wake Forest University, it’s a race to watch.
“We're in a perfect storm of thinking about public education," she says. "A new governor, new superintendent, parents' rights advocates bills, the expansion of vouchers to go to private schools, and our current governor has sounded the alarm that public education is under fire."
So what exactly is the state superintendent’s role?