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Expanding Opportunity Scholarships: A Threat to Public Education!
A perspective from Krista Peck Millard
The N.C. General Assembly is proposing to divert millions of taxpayer dollars, in an arguably unconstitutional manner, away from the public schools and into the hands of private and parochial schools with none of the transparency and accountability required of the public schools.
Senate Bill 406 and House Bill 832 will use tax dollars to support “Opportunity Scholarships” for the private education of children, not just from low-wealth families but, for the first time, to wealthy families and those already enrolled in private schools. SB406 would provide more than $2.2 billion of taxpayer money for private school vouchers over the next 10 years.
The General Assembly is allowing these private and religious schools to discriminate against the children of the state based on religious beliefs and the personal characteristics of voucher applicants. Private and parochial schools can pick and choose students who align with their beliefs and reject others. Public schools are open to all regardless of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, and religious or political beliefs.
The 1868 N.C. Constitution, Article 9, made clear that a responsibility of state government is to provide for a free public education for all the children of the state, including children who were historically denied that opportunity due to race, religion, or financial resources. The N.C. Constitution did not include provisions for financing private and religious education with public tax dollars.
The General Assembly should address the unmet needs of the public schools across North Carolina, as documented in the long-standing Leandro Case. The ideology driving these twin bills is intended to degrade public education.
Contact your Senate and House General Assembly members and urge them to reject SB406/HB823.
Krista Peck Millard
A Friend of Public Education in North Carolina
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
