NC House Passes Bill to Expand Funding For North Carolina School Choice Programs

Raleigh, NC (September 11, 2024) -- Mike Long, President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, released the following statement to celebrate the state House passing a bill that would fully fund the Opportunity Scholarship Program waitlist and add funds to the Education Student Accounts (ESA+) Program.

We are thrilled that our state legislature has passed a conference report that would expand funding for North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program and Special Needs Scholarship. The conference report now heads to Governor Cooper, and we encourage him to sign it into law as soon as possible, although we know the Governor is no fan of Opportunity Scholarships.

We applauded the General Assembly's efforts last year to expand eligibility for the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which led to a record number of new applications from families. However, a funding gap left over 55,000 families unable to participate at the start of this school year. We are glad that the General Assembly reached an agreement to expand these programs so that these families would not be left behind.

Thank you to the families and students who let their voices be heard over the last few months by showing their demand to receive the best possible education for them. The legislature has now made good on the promise to expand the scholarship programs, and it now falls on the Governor to make it official.

With the overwhelming demand from tens of thousands of families and this conference report passing in both the Senate and House, the message is clear: North Carolina believes in funding students over systems.