Voucher Supporters Urge Lawmakers To Fund Scholarships Fully | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Extra $6 million to $8 million would make scholarship lottery unnecessary

    Raliegh — Supporters of private school vouchers — known as Opportunity Scholarships — rallied Tuesday outside the Legislative Building urging lawmakers to lift the cap on the number of students eligible to receive the vouchers in the coming school year.

    Unless the cap is lifted, a lottery will have to be held to determine which children can receive the vouchers, because more students applied for the scholarships than the number of slots available.

    Darrell Allison, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which organized the rally, noted that 5,552 children applied for scholarships. However, the Opportunity Scholarships law, which passed in the 2013 session of the General Assembly, set aside funding for only 2,400 scholarships.

    "No other state in our nation had as many applications in its first year of a program," Allison said.

    Civil rights activist Howard Fuller Jr., the former superintendent of Milwaukee's public schools who initiated the nation's first voucher program after leaving that post, said educational choice shouldn't be limited to people with higher incomes.

    "The reality is we should not have an America where only those of us with money have the ability to choose the best educational environment for our children," Fuller said. "These parents, these kids, have a right to be able to choose the best education for their children."

    After the General Assembly created the Opportunity Scholarships program, opponents of vouchers filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court questioning its constitutionality. In February, Judge Robert Hobgood and issued an injunction blocking implementation of the vouchers.

    In May, the N.C. Supreme Court lifted Hobgood's order, allowing implementation of the Opportunity Scholarships program to move forward. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for August.

    Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, who opposes the vouchers, said he thinks the Opportunity Scholarships are unconstitutional.

    Glazier said children from lower-income families are being used as temporary cover for a program that eventually would be open to wealthier families who want to leave public schools.

    "The vouchers were touted as a way to help poor children of the state have a private opportunity or option," Glazier said. "But in my view it was never really intended for poorer kids."

    "The poor folks who have applied were used as the bait to get the switch," Glazier said.

    Allison said he's hoping Senate and House budget negotiators will include money in the final compromise to allow all of the eligible students who applied for the vouchers to be awarded scholarships. He said lifting the cap would cost $6 million to $8 million.

    The effort is a one-time deal, to be used for the 2014-15 school year, Allison said. "It's not a lifting of the cap in perpetuity," he said.

    Roughly 100 parents and children flanked the speakers at Tuesday's rally, many wearing t-shirts that read, "Lift the cap on Opportunity Scholarships." Some carried signs that said, "I'm not just a statistic... I matter!" and, "More parental choice for families!"

    Parent Casey Cooper of Statesville said she wants the cap lifted to make sure that her son, Kenan, gets into a private school next year. She said her son is a special education student who wants to design cars and needs extra help with math.

    "I'm not saying that the public school district is not giving quality education," Cooper said. But she said that her son, because of his special education needs, would get more individualized attention at a private school.

    House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, both lauded the effort.

    "This is about giving parents an opportunity to put their child in a setting that helps ensure that they realize their hopes and dreams," Tillis said.

    "It's the right thing to do for kids; it's the right thing to do for parents; it's the right thing to do for North Carolina," Berger said.

    Both Berger and Tillis lauded Rep. Skip Stam, R-Wake, for his role in championing the voucher cause.

    Sen. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, along with Reps. Marcus Brandon, D-Guilford, and Rob Bryan, R-Mecklenburg, also offered support to the effort.

    Brandon said that in his district, more than half the children are not graduating from high school, a factor that contributes to an increased likelihood of a person going to prison.

    "This is a cancer in our community and people are literally dying because of it," Brandon said.