What are school vouchers? School vouchers are education tax dollars that are funneled from public schools to pay for a portion of the tuition of private or religious schools. 

The North Carolina “Opportunity Scholarship” program currently allows families with low incomes to use up to $6,492 in taxpayer funds on private school tuition. This “school vouchers” program began in 2014 and has gradually expanded each year. Originally, the program was supposed to provide relief for low-income families in neighborhoods with struggling public schools. 

Now, leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly want to eliminate the income requirements for the program to allow millionaires to use your tax dollars for a discount on their private school tuition bill. The proposed expansion would hurt families enrolled in NC public schools by slashing school budgets that are already underfunded.

Two matching bills (HB823 & SB406) are making their way quickly through the NC General Assembly along with the House and Senate budget proposals that will have a devastating effect on NC students, public schools, and communities.

Instead of adequately funding teacher salaries and public schools, supporters of these bills/budgets are choosing to fund discriminatory private schools and subsidize the wealthy. The proposed expansion is mentioned in House Bill 823 / Senate Bill 406 and budget bills from the NC House of Representatives and the Senate.