By: Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
In a landmark move, the Republican-majority North Carolina legislature approved a significant supplemental spending bill that aims to address the long-standing waitlist for private school vouchers while also including provisions that direct sheriffs to assist federal immigration agents.
The bill passed the House on Wednesday by a vote of 67-43, following a separate approval by the Senate earlier this week. Three Democrats joined all House Republicans in voting Wednesday for the bill, which now heads to Gov. Cooper.
The legislation, a product of intensive negotiations among Republican leaders, marks a major expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program. The bill allocates an additional $463.5 million over the current and next school years to fund these private school vouchers. This influx of funds is designed to eliminate the waitlist that had left around 55,000 children unable to receive the scholarships they applied for. Since the removal of income limits in 2023, the program experienced a surge in applications.
“As North Carolina continues to expand education options for families, we are ensuring that every child has the chance to thrive,” Mecklenburg County Republican Rep. Tricia Cotham, a leading voucher expansion advocate, said in a news release.
The legislation’s supporters argue that the increased funding for the Opportunity Scholarship program will provide greater educational choices for families, especially those who have been waiting for financial assistance to enroll their children in private schools.
The bill’s critics argue that the expansion of the voucher program could undermine public schools, which serve the majority of low-income families. They also worry that the program’s growth will divert essential funds from public education and disproportionately benefit wealthier families.
“We’re concerned about the siphoning away of public dollars, taxpayer dollars, to a program that subsidizes private tuition for wealthy families,” said Heba Atwa, Legislative Advocacy & Campaigns Manager with NC Budget & Tax Center.
“It was a compromise,” House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) said. “There were a lot of things that the Senate wanted in this provision that we didn’t agree to. And there were a lot of things, including additional teacher pay raises you asked about, that the House wanted in here as well.
In addition to the voucher provisions, the bill includes a controversial measure requiring county sheriffs to cooperate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in detaining jail inmates suspected of being in the country unlawfully. This aspect of the bill has further fueled the debate, with opponents arguing that it could strain local resources and exacerbate tensions within immigrant communities.
“We want resources for our local schools, not more exclusion and attacks on low-income and immigrant communities,” Shruti Parikh, with North Carolina Asian Americans Together, said. “Public schools provide services these communities rely on, like language support and special education.”
The bill’s passage represents a significant victory for voucher advocates but is not yet a done deal. Governor Cooper is expected to veto the measure, though the bill would become law if GOP lawmakers remain united and override the veto. The coming months will be crucial in determining whether the expanded Opportunity Scholarship program and the immigration provisions will be fully implemented.
