Legislative News by Nelda Holder –
So there I was, drinking my Sunday morning coffee and reading the newspaper … the typical Sunday scene since my childhood (once I could both read and drink coffee).
And I was noting that the North Carolina General Assembly was reconvening the very next day—less than two months before the big election day on November 5—for self-limited purposes that include funding for private school vouchers, called “Opportunity Scholarships.”
Let’s pause here and note that this round of funding would apply predominantly to students whose family income previously disqualified them from voucher eligibility. So for those sympathetic to a voucher program that assists lower-income families, that is not where this money lands. Instead, some $463 million state dollars will be going to households whose budgets were previously above the income cap for state assistance.
And keep in mind that voucher outlay from the state reduces the money available to our public schools, which lose potentially millions in this overall process.
Speaking of our public schools—a fact sheet from the office of the Gov. Roy Cooper points out that if the legislature’s $250 million in new funding for vouchers last year had instead been invested in public schools, it could have meant a 2.6% raise for teachers, or ensured a school nurse for every public school, or given a 10% raise to school bus drivers, teaching assistants, and other non-certified school staff. Or—pause here for a moment and really think about this—served an additional 27,000 eligible four-year-olds in the NC Pre-K program.
Now, where do you think that $463 million this year really needs to go?
P.S.: Don’t think for a minute that I’ve forgotten the lawsuit this legislative “leadership” has lodged to stymie the long-ago court-ordered Leandro money for our public…
Read the full article here
