North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, unveiled a budget proposal April 21 that would phase out the state’s private-school voucher program, drawing immediate opposition from a parental advocacy group urging lawmakers to protect education freedom.
The Opportunity Scholarship Program is a state-funded voucher system that provides eligible families with money to help cover private school tuition and related expenses instead of attending a public school. The scholarships are funded with taxpayer dollars and awarded on a sliding scale based on household income, with lower-income families typically receiving larger awards.
Stein’s proposal would gradually eliminate the program by imposing a moratorium on new awards and limiting renewals to low-income families already receiving vouchers in the 2025-2026 school year. Families making more than 150% of the eligibility level for the federal reduced-price school lunch program — a threshold that works out to roughly $90,000 a year for a family of four — would no longer qualify, and future funding for the program would be reduced over time.
The changes could affect roughly 60,000 students currently participating in the school-choice program, which has served more than 106,000 children this year, according to The Carolina Journal.
Stein defended the proposal as an investment in public education and the state’s long-term economic health.
“If we’re going to continue to build our economic success, there’s one area where we cannot afford to fall behind: our public schools,” he said in a press release. “Our children are our future, and investing in them and the educators that help them learn will pay off for generations to come.”
The proposal invests nearly $2.3 billion to support public schools and would raise teacher salaries and set starting teacher pay at the highest in the Southeast, according to the release. It also includes funding for school safety, more counselors and nurses, expanded early reading programs, and free school breakfast for students in public schools.
An advocacy group responded to the proposal by calling on the Republican-controlled General Assembly to reject any effort to eliminate or reduce vouchers. In an April 23 press release, Mike Long, president of Parents for Education Freedom in North Carolina, called Stein’s recommended budget a “direct attack on North Carolina families” who rely on the scholarship program.
“For the first time, we are hearing a North Carolina governor openly propose taking educational opportunities away from parents and students who depend on them,” Long said. “Thousands of families have made plans, sacrifices, and life decisions based on the promise that North Carolina would stand with them. Governor Stein proposes pulling the rug out from under them.”
He said his organization is “counting on” the state’s General Assembly to “deliver a budget that protects educational freedom and keeps opportunity within reach for every child.”