Governor Cooper and Democratic Leaders Highlight Republican Legislators Plan to Pour Millions of Taxpayer Dollars into Private Schools while Abandoning Public Schools

Today, Governor Roy Cooper and Democratic legislative leaders held a press conference highlighting Republican legislators' disastrous plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on taxpayer funded private school vouchers while that should be going to public schools. The Governor was joined by Rep. Robert Reives, Sen. Dan Blue, Sen. Michael Garrett, Sen. Lisa Grafstein, Rep. Sarah Crawford and Rep. Cynthia Ball.

"Republican legislators are returning to Raleigh to siphon hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars out of public schools and give it to the wealthy through private school vouchers," said Governor Cooper. "This would be disastrous for our public schools and the future of our state. They should invest in public education instead so we can give teachers an overdue pay raise."

The General Assembly plans to reconvene on Monday. Instead of passing a budget or funding child care in North Carolina, Republican legislators plan to fully fund private school voucher expansion, equating to $625 million in new funding just this year.

Expanding private school vouchers would disproportionately impact rural North Carolina counties, where access to private education is limited and public schools serve as the backbone of communities. More than one-quarter (28) of North Carolina's counties - all rural counties - have no or just one private school participating in the voucher program. By diverting public funds to wealthier urban areas, private school vouchers are deepening the resource gap and undermining the educational opportunities for rural students.

Private schools that receive vouchers are not regulated and are not accountable to taxpayers despite receiving taxpayer money. Vouchers cover tuition for schools that don't have to report how students are performing, don't have to serve all students regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status or religious beliefs or don't have to hire licensed teachers.

In addition, many of the state's top private schools don't accept state vouchers, meaning students are not afforded new opportunities at the best schools. Instead, the schools that do participate often exclude certain students from attending and frequently do not meet key quality metrics.

Public schools that serve more than 84% of students are continuously asked to do more with less. North Carolina ranks near the bottom of all states in K-12 funding, spending nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average. Our state is falling behind nationally in teacher pay, dropping in the most recent rankings to 38th.

Based on an updated analysis by the Office of State Budget and Management, if the General Assembly fully expands the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program, private schools could siphon nearly $100 million in state funding from public schoolsjust in the first full year of the program. In addition, the expansion of the voucher program will cost the state $277 million in new spending just in the first year.

Instead of funneling hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars toward vouchers for unaccountable private schools that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest demographic in the state, the legislature should invest in public education so our state's public schools, educators and students have the resources they need to thrive. The $625 million in taxpayer dollars going towards private school vouchers could be:

• Providing an 8.5% average raise for teachers, which would lift beginning teacher pay to first in the Southeast, and
• Providing a $1,500 retention bonus to most public school educators, and
• Restoring Master's pay for over 1,000 teachers with advanced degrees, and
• Hiring 575 more nurses, counselors, social workers and psychologists for public schools across the state

Governor Cooper declared 2024 as the Year of Public Schools and has been visiting public schools and early childhood education programs across the state calling for investments in K-12 education, early childhood education and teacher pay.

Read more about the truth of North Carolina's voucher program here.

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• Education