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“The Opportunity Scholarship Program means so much to our small veteran family. This benefit is going to families who have fought hard to remain employed through the pandemic and do pay most of their children's school tuition out of pocket. Receiving this award last year for the first time provided incredible relief to a very tight and stressful economic year. It was the extra assistance we needed to send our son to the school that had the highest qualified support for his emotional well-being as a military child. At the end of 2019, my husband left active duty service from the US Coast Guard after ten years so we could return home to Wilmington, North Carolina, to buy our first home and send our kindergartener to school, (after 5 inter-state moves in the previous two years). With all the unforeseen disasters of 2020, we had gotten under contract in February of 2020. The unfolding events made life stressful and difficult to put food on the table with the cutback of our working hours. This scholarship held our newly established life together and I am eternally grateful for it. I know it is doing the same for other families in our beautiful state.” — Alex and Emily, Wilmington

“The Opportunity Scholarship Program has allowed my child to attend a private school that offered in-person learning and a small classroom environment. That meets my son’s needs academically and pushes him to be comfortable socially. The classroom setting was the difference maker that helped him excel academically. None of this would have been possible without the Opportunity Scholarship.” — Cynthia, Fayetteville

“The Opportunity Scholarship Program has been a tremendous assistance over the last seven years in giving my 10th grade son the type of education that works best for him. He has benefited from the reduced classroom sizes, higher standards in academics, Christian foundation, and access to sports and fine arts curriculum. He never would have had access to these benefits without the scholarship.” — Delicia Hare, Rolesville NC

“Because of the amazing Opportunity Scholarship Program, my children have been able to receive an education that is second to none. This would never happen if I didn’t have the opportunity to pick a private school that better meets their needs. Without the Opportunity Scholarship, we could not have afforded this type of educational environment. Why should private school only be available to those of means? This scholarship is giving a chance to students who need it the most.”

— Ieshia Squires, Winterville NC

Published in the Fayetteville Observer on May 15, 2021

By James Martin

My name is James Martin, and I am a retired Army combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. 

I’d like to share my daughter Mia’s story with you. 

Legislators ask whether Opportunity Scholarships are over funded.  Could the extra money be used elsewhere in a time of crisis?  Let me explain why the answer is no.

As school closures stretch on into mid-April and threaten the remaining weeks of the current school year, schools are being faced with the task of not only educating students from afar, but also maintaining strategies for attracting new students and families for enrollment. This time of year, usually brings registration events, community welcomes, and general on-boarding procedures for incoming families, and early inquiries and requests for information from the next pool of student candidates.

Halloween is one of the best times of year to be a kid. We all know that. But as parents, we also know that Halloween is one of the most dangerous nights of the year for kids. So, we’d like to share a few tips to help your family stay safe and have fun during trick-or-treating.

The beginning of the school year is a hectic time for school administrators—we all know that! So, in the midst of all the craziness, we’d like to share a few tips for help you stay focused on the all-important goal of retaining students and families at your school.

OUR money.

Those are the words of the Capitol Broadcasting Company’s (CBC) latest attack on North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. The program currently enables over 9,600 students from low-income and working-class families in North Carolina to attend the private school of their parents’ choice.

These families are taxpayers, too. But CBC is protecting systems and the status quo, playing politics, and demonizing educational choice.