Around 55,000 students and their families remain in limbo, stuck on a waitlist for the Opportunity Scholarship program, as uncertainty continues to swirl over whether North Carolina lawmakers will fully fund the program for a new school year that kicks off in a matter of weeks.
Tapping into that sense of urgency, a parent-organized rally is planned for Halifax Mall, located behind the Legislative Building, in downtown Raleigh on Wednesday morning.
In addition to the Opportunity Scholarship waitlist funding gap, budget impasse prevented lawmakers from clearing a smaller waitlist of around 2,015 students who applied for the Education Savings Account program, or ESA+. That program is meant for students with special needs.
Both House and Senate leadership agree that the funding fix needs to happen, but an agreement failed to materialize in the waning hours of the short session this year. A budget adjustment of around $487 million is needed to clear the waitlist for Opportunity Scholarships.
Melody Jenkins is one of the parents left in limbo. Her family recently decided to switch from homeschooling to a local private school. Jenkins applied for the Opportunity Scholarship for four of their children, as well as for the ESA+ program for one of their children with learning disabilities. The delay has caused the family stress.
“We’re just a middle class family with five kids who want to have an option,” Jenkins said in a phone interview with Carolina Journal. “Each of our children have different needs. We want to be able to meet those needs, and without the Opportunity Scholarship and ESA+, it just puts a pretty big strain on us.”
Jenkins said that she is tapping funds from her kids’ college savings plan to fill the gap.
“I just don’t get why parents can’t access their own tax dollars,” Jenkins said. “The public school is so fearful of this whole school choice movement, but if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing in public school, people wouldn’t be leaving in droves in the first place.”
Another parent, Olga Khonyakina, shared with Carolina Journal that she and her husband are first-generation college graduates who want to give their three sons the best shot at educational success. To meet that goal, they enrolled their boys in Thales Academy.
“The fact that Opportunity Scholarships funds have not come through yet has put additional stress on our family, as we are trying to meet our children’s academic needs during these challenging financial times,” Khonyakina said. “I would urge the lawmakers to strongly consider extending the funding for families, leaving no children behind and helping children to achieve their academic goals in the environments that best suit their needs.”
Opportunity Scholarships are the state’s voucher program enabling families to choose a private school education for their children. Each scholarship is valued at between $7,468 and $3,360 each year, spread across four income tier levels ranging from $57,720 for a family of four in the first tier, to more than $259,740 a year in the fourth tier. A record-breaking 72,000 applications were received for the scholarships in February.