Raleigh, North Carolina — After Gov. Roy Cooper canceled House Bill 10, there will be no more money for private school vouchers in North Carolina for now.
The governor and school board members from all over the state agreed that the money should go to public schools first and that the nearly $500 million could be better spent on giving those schools more tools.
Early in September, Republican lawmakers in the state agreed to give $463 million to private school vouchers. This happened after lawmakers earlier this year made vouchers available to all families. Demand went through the roof, and there are still 55,000 kids on a waitlist.
Cooper says he’s not against private schools, but he says a lot of these vouchers will go to people who can already pay for private school.
He said, “It works for some kids.” But I don’t think that tax money should be taken out of public schools and given to private school vouchers for the richest North Carolinians. Indeed, that’s what HB 10 does.
It was also said by the governor that this bill would hurt rural areas the most.
Cooper said, “Most of these private schools that get this voucher money are in our cities.” “The money will go there.”
Teachers said that this money could be better spent on things like increasing teacher pay and giving retention bonuses, which are ideas in the governor’s budget. They asked state politicians to support the governor’s veto, along with members of the school board and county government.
Pitt County social studies teacher Elyse Cannon McCrae said, “When I think about these funds, I know they could go to technology, new and updated facilities, textbooks, and getting help for students with disabilities.” “You need to be good with this public money.” Public schools are the great balance in North Carolina, so you should support them.
Riddick, who is the head of the Washington County Board of Education, also spoke on Friday.
“We can’t let this bill go through,” Riddick said. People need to speak out for their kids, their neighborhoods, and their public schools.
The bill has more than just vouchers that people don’t like. HB10 would also require sheriffs to work with federal immigration officials and hold criminals charged with major crimes if they think the person is in the country illegally. Cooper has already killed two bills that were similar.
Matt Mercer, who is the communications director for the NCGOP, said this about the governor’s veto:
“It was fully expected that Gov. Roy Cooper would veto HB 10. It makes sense to help keep North Carolina safe by making sheriffs work with ICE even though over 10 million illegal aliens have already crossed the southern border.
“It makes sense to improve student outcomes to fund Opportunity Scholarships so that families can choose the best education plan for their children,” the statement says. “It’s too bad that Gov. Cooper would keep playing political games with North Carolina families in his last few weeks in office.”
GOP lawmakers have said that they probably won’t talk about overturning the governor’s veto again until after the election in November.