As ridiculous as it is, if you go to the website of the governor of North Carolina, there is still a bright red banner declaring a “Public School Emergency” due to Gov. Roy Cooper’s opposition to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships for K-12 students to attend private schools.
You would think that a North Carolina governor who kept the nation’s ninth-largest state under a COVID-induced state of emergency for 888 days and is just now beginning to cope with the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene would be more judicious in using the word “emergency,” but here we are.
Cooper’s recent veto of House Bill 10, which would expand funding for the OSP, deeply disappointed families across North Carolina. His decision leaves thousands of students on the waiting list, denying them access to better educational opportunities. The governor’s rationale overlooks the benefits of school vouchers, including the flexibility and educational choice offered to families, especially those from lower-income backgrounds. And a new academic study reinforces the argument that school vouchers create significant public value, further undermining the governor’s decision.
In his veto statement, Cooper argues that school vouchers “divert public tax dollars away from public schools.” However, this is a misguided interpretation of vouchers’ role in the broader educational ecosystem. Vouchers are not an attack on public education but a lifeline for students trapped in underperforming schools. The Opportunity Scholarship Program offers low- and middle-income families a chance to escape failing institutions and seek the best education possible for their children.
House Bill 10 would have addressed the growing demand for scholarships. By rejecting the bill, Cooper ignores the concerns of thousands of families on the waiting list, hoping for access to schools that better serve their children’s needs. With this veto, the governor prioritizes the public school bureaucracy over the individual needs of North Carolina students.
A September 2024 study — published by the National Bureau for Economic Research and authored by researchers from Duke University, University of California-San Diego, and the University of Rochester — provides strong evidence of the public value generated by school vouchers. The study’s primary goal was to determine if school vouchers improve student welfare by giving families more access to their preferred schools. Researchers used several models to test this, first in areas without vouchers and then in places where vouchers were available. They found that a model factoring in a family’s ability to pay was more accurate but still underestimated how many families would use the vouchers.
The study also revealed that private schools benefiting from the voucher program helped encourage more families to take advantage of it. Families who didn’t receive vouchers were more likely to consider private schools, increasing enrollment overall. The researchers developed a model that included the impact of this increased interest and the incentives to enroll. Their findings suggest that a well-designed voucher program could offer big benefits, especially for low-income families, using public funds well.
Essentially, the study’s conclusions support the concept of a means-preferenced voucher program, which is what the OSP is.
North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program is designed to benefit North Carolina’s vulnerable families first. Wealthy families are not given the same amount in scholarships as low-income families, and low-income families are selected first. The program’s tiered structure need receive the most support.
For example, a family of four making less than $57,720 annually would qualify for Tier 1 funding, which covers up to $7,468 of tuition. As incomes rise, the program offers reduced funding but still provides crucial support to families that do not qualify as low-income but incur the substantial costs of private education. By comparison, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction, North Carolina spends $12,636 per pupil in public schools.
This system ensures that families with varying financial backgrounds can still participate in the program, making it more inclusive than programs in other states. The program’s flexibility allows it to reach a broader swath of students who deserve access to the best education possible. By maintaining a means-preferenced structure, the Opportunity Scholarship Program promotes equity and efficiency, ensuring that funds are directed where they are most needed.
Further, Cooper’s opposition to Opportunity Scholarships, ostensibly because higher-income families can also receive them, even at a lower dollar amount, lacks a logical flow. His argument seems to hinge on the idea that public dollars shouldn’t help wealthier families afford private education. However, the reality is that high-income families also have children in public schools, meaning public funds already subsidize their education. Cooper is not opposed to funding the education of wealthy children in public schools, so his objection is about controlling where those public dollars go — favoring public schools over the freedom for parents to choose a private school.
In other words, if public funds are already used to educate all children, including the wealthiest, it makes little sense to draw a line based on the type of school, especially when school vouchers often offer lower amounts to higher-income families compared to lower-income ones, maintaining a focus on equitable support. Under state law, private schools must administer nationally normed tests every year and, due to their nature, must be heavily accountable to the families they serve.
The governor’s decision disregards the needs of families desperate for better educational options. It ignores the growing body of evidence, like the latest NBER paper and 162 other studies, demonstrating the public value of school vouchers. By continuing to expand the Opportunity Scholarship Program, North Carolina can offer its students the educational choices they deserve and, ultimately, improve academic outcomes across the board. Cooper should reconsider his stance, and the General Assembly must work to override his veto in the best interests of North Carolina students and families.