Public money for private schools

N.C. legislature prioritizes private education

BY GREG PARLIER

Private schools likely will become more affordable for families of any income next school year at the expense of public schools. The N.C. General Assembly is set to pass what amounts to a veto-proof bill removing the income cap for the private school voucher program.

Buncombe County’s two public school districts could be out a combined $5.6 million in fiscal year 2026-27 if the expansion of the state’s Opportunity Scholarship program passes, according to an estimate from the Office of State Budget and Management.

That total could go up in subsequent years as the state’s investment in the private school voucher program rises from about $133.8 million last year to more than $400 million in fiscal year 2024-25, according to Senate Bill 406. The spending will increase annually, hitting a $520 million maximum in fiscal year 2032-33.

“I am deeply concerned about what allocating more taxpayer dollars to private education will do to our K-12 public education system in North Carolina. We see teachers and principals leaving North Carolina to go to states that respect public education and educators and pay more. This ultimately comes at the expense of our kids,” says Buncombe County Commissioner Amanda Edwards, who is the mother of a rising senior at Asheville High School. Edwards’ husband, Derek Edwards, is the principal of Asheville High School.

Alternatively, some local parents favor the voucher program because they say private schools can provide a unique curriculum or social setting that is a better fit for their child than public schools that are subject to state standards for testing and approved teaching styles.

Opportunity Scholarships

Currently, families can apply for a private school voucher — called

Opportunity Scholarships — for private school tuition if they are accepted to a participating private school and fall below certain income levels, which has helped some Buncombe students attend their schools of choice.

The bill removes the income eligibility cap, allowing anyone, no matter their income, to apply for state funds for private school education, as long as at least 50% of total funds go to children whose families qualify for free and reduced-price school meals.

Families will receive funding on a sliding scale based on their income levels, with the maximum being the state average per-pupil allotment that goes to public schools, or about $6,500. The state funds schools based on attendance, so if students migrate to private schools using vouchers, the corresponding public districts lose funding.

Of Buncombe’s 35 private schools, 23 have signed up to receive the scholarship funding.

The new law also expands eligibility in another way. Under the current law, students were eligible for the scholarship the first year they attended a private school, regardless of grade level. A student could apply for the scholarship each year following. Under the new law, even students who have attended private schools for several years are eligible for the scholarships. That would mean the state will pay money to families that have been able to pay for their children’s education out of pocket.

Opponents argue that amounts to the state cutting a check to wealthy families with money that would otherwise be allocated to public education.

Public school advocates in Buncombe County, from administrators and politicians to teachers and parents, say schools are already starving. A 2004 Supreme Court ruling commonly referred to as “Leandro” — reaffirmed in 2022 — asserted that the lack of education funding meant “the State had failed in its constitutional duty to provide certain students with the opportunity to attain a sound basic education.”

According to a 2022 report from the Education Law Center, North Carolina ranked last in the country in education funding as a percentage of the state’s gross domestic product.

“The needs of public schools are so clear, and continuing to not meet those needs, while funding millionaires who are already sending their kids to private school makes absolutely no sense,” says state Sen. Julie Mayfield, who represents the western half of Buncombe County, including Asheville.

The Senate bill is likely to become law because the Republican supermajority has the power to override a likely veto from Gov. Roy Cooper, Mayfield says.

’TRIAGE MODE’

In the last 10 years, both Buncombe school districts have seen shrinking attendance numbers and therefore shrinking funding. The Buncombe County Schools district, in particular, has lost more than 12.5% of its students and $30 million in state funding in the last 10 years.

Asheville City Schools numbers have fluctuated more but are down 2.8% over 10 years and are projected to lose another 4% just this year, according to an Xpress analysis.

If projections for 2023-24 from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction are correct, BCS will have its lowest attendance since at least 1996-97, and ACS will be at its lowest point since 2011-12. District counts do not include public charter schools, which operate independently of the traditional public school districts but receive state funding.

Meanwhile, private school attendance in Buncombe was up 25% in 2021-22 over 2013-14, the year before the Opportunity Scholarship program began.

“We’re already kind of in a triage mode,” says Buncombe County Board of Education member Rob Elliot of the school districts.