(The Lion) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein’s new budget would cut and then eliminate school choice, but Republicans are saying not so fast.
Stein, a Democrat who took office in January, submitted his first budget proposal last week.
The nearly $68 billion, two-year spending plan would raise teachers’ salaries 10.7% over the next two years and hike public education spending by $1.3 billion, which Stein would pay for by eliminating the state’s school choice program.
The Tar Heel state passed school choice in 2013 and expanded it in 2023 to include families of all income levels. Applications have since surged, growing to nearly 80,000 this year. Students from lower- and middle-income families can receive nearly $7,500, while higher earners get less than $3,400.
Stein’s plan would immediately block any new money for families earning more than $115,000 and completely eliminate the school choice program by 2027, The Center Square reports.
But Republicans, who control the state Legislature, are opposed.
New House Speaker Destin Hall said that while he wants to raise teacher pay, ending school choice is “a nonstarter with us.”
And Senate leader Phil Berger’s office said Stein’s budget “rips educational freedom and parental choice from hardworking families,” the Associated Press reports.
The battle highlights the need for educational freedom proponents to remain vigilant even as more and more states approve school choice.
In neighboring South Carolina, the state’s Supreme Court struck down that its educational savings accounts program just weeks into the school year, leaving thousands of students in limbo. A private fundraising effort has raised most of the funds needed to keep students enrolled in their private schools and lawmakers are considering legislation to restore the program.
Most school choice programs are challenged in court and typically prevail, but that doesn’t stop liberal lawmakers in various states from trying to roll them back.
In Arkansas, Andrew Collins, a Little Rock Democrat, introduced a bill to eliminate that state’s education freedom accounts last fall. The measure has been in the House Education Committee since January.
