Wake County school leaders charge that North Carolina’s historic expansion of private school voucher funding will leave public schools underfunded.
State lawmakers have passed a bill that provides an additional $463 million for private school vouchers but less than half of the $200 million requested for public school enrollment growth. During Tuesday’s review of House Bill 10 , most Wake school board members said the legislation should be rejected.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to veto the bill. But Republicans have a large enough legislative majority to override Cooper to pass the bill into law.
“Not only is it bad for us here in Wake County, It’s bad statewide,” said school board chair Chris Heagarty. “It’s bad because so many of our small school districts don’t even have private school options yet the public schools which are there to serve in those communities are underfunded.”
But school board member Cheryl Caulfield said they should consider the perspectives of families who need an Opportunity Scholarship to attend a private school.