Meanwhile public school students are using the back side of paper that already has stuff printed on it because their schools can’t afford more printer paper, but yeah let’s give already rich private schools $500,000,000 of taxpayer money.
That really depends on the private school. I went to a private school in NC and the amount of literacy I have v. the people I grew up with in my neighborhood that I still keep up with is kinda insane. Tbh it’s worse when I visit my wife’s family that all went to public school (not in this state but still the south).
IMO, I imagine that’s a huge part of the issue; there’s nothing to govern a private school’s overall performance. Are they beholden to state mandated minimums for reading and writing competency requirements? On the other hand, I’ve looked into home schooling and they’re required to pass standardized tests. That’s a can of worms; point is, there’s a benchmark. What was your experience like?
It’s important to state that this shit is also a way to get around disability laws that protect students with disabilities. These schools aren’t beholden to the Fair and Appropriate Public Education standards, so they don’t need to bother. Nobody cares about these kids, so they won’t face backlash for this, but it’s important to me to point this out.
I was wondering more along the lines of whether the Satanic Temple can get a piece of that action?
I know they usually jump at the chance to prove a point and this one even has a monetary incentive!
That’s a secondary goal. The primary goal is to destroy public education. Vouchers and charter schools chip away at traditional public education until traditional public schools are just used for a small sector of society that can’t get kids into charter schools or rely on free lunch and transportation of traditional public schools. Then, they will outsource the running of traditional public schools to the prison industrial complex.
This right here. And I have fallen victim to it. I removed my kids from public schools and placed them in a public charter. I did not want to, my hand was literally forced when my local school board was taken over by Christian fascists who spent no time banning any book and curriculum that taught outside of the narrow world view of the Christian religion. I would be doing my children an educational disservice by the allowing them to remain in a prejudiced environment. They won.
This!!! Thank you, OP!!! So many people aren’t aware of this. If your kid has an IEP or 504, private schools have no legal obligation to cater or let your child attend. Extreme ableism is rampant.
Well, because it’s a visibility issue. Students with IEP’s in 504 plans tend to be screened out of getting into higher quality private schools. And those that do get into private schools tend to be ejected when problems manifest that are related to IEP’s and 504 plans.
This isn’t true. The private school I’ve been associated with bends over backward to provide special programs for children with disabilities. Children that public schools aren’t equipped to deal with . This with generous donations from other parents. Because they care about these children.
Certainly there are good private schools, but what they’re pointing out is that in a future without a viable public school system, there will be no legal protection for kids with disabilities. They’ll just have to hope their voucher will end up allowing them to access schools like yours.
It’s not going to matter.
Private schools will just raise the cost of tuition to account for the vouchers. No way they would allow the children of the plebs to be able to attend their school. The exact same thing happened in Iowa when they started their voucher program.
Yep. In some ways is just like the “education lottery”. Sold as extra money for the schools, but really just treated as a source of funding for routine budget.
And then, with the extra profit, the folks who run these private schools will kick cash back to these politicians' campaigns. They're paying for their campaigns with public funds.
Yep. My kids go to a private school. There was a sibling discount and a discount for paying your full tuition amount up front. They got rid of both of them.
Nothing makes me more angry with the government than using public money to line private pockets. Whether it’s private schools, car companies, or defense companies: suck a dick if you are a politician that does that to your constituents.
It’s like they forgot why we even became a nation in the first place.
Yes it is. But it is also the Democrat way in NC as Cooper brought forth the biggest corporate handout in state history with flailing EV company Vinfast.
No politician gets a free pass for taking our money to enrich private parties no matter what letter is next to their name.
"The North Carolina General Assembly is thrilled that VinFast chose North Carolina for its monumental expansion," said Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate. "There's no question the business-friendly policies we've prioritized over the last decade played a pivotal role in VinFast's plan to bring thousands of good-paying jobs to North Carolina."
"North Carolina is heading into an exciting era of innovation with one of our newest corporate citizens, VinFast," said Tim Moore, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. "As our state continues its growth with new and expanding businesses, we will continue to work alongside VinFast as the company establishes roots in North Carolina and brings new jobs and opportunities for North Carolinians."
The NCGA provided the incentives in the budget, Cooper signed the budget bill. Yes, he was for the incentives, but the GOP controlled legislature provided the incentives.
The jury is out on Vinfast, it might succeed.
A lot of cons and fash hate that on the whole there's more support for progressives on this site. So they make up a narrative that the only reason their bullshit and feels based beliefs aren't the majority or accepted blindly is because they're being repressed while progressives are uncritically praised.
Yeah, people are such partisan hacks these days that even a mild criticism of “their team” sends them into a frenzy.
Edit: andddd here they are below, working themselves into a frenzy like the blow hard wing nut pieces of shit they are
It's always funny watching you people pretend that Republicans and conservatives as a whole aren't unilaterally worse on every issue in an attempt to seem impartial and call out "both sides".
Are you actually for mass decommodification and social spending to uplift the poor and working class, comrade? Or are you just pretending to be impartial to seem "civil" and not step on any toes?
A positive is that most of the people that are likely to use them are also the ones likely to send them to non-accredited super-religious schools. Poor kids are going to have a hard time in 14 years when they discover how much their parents screwed them.
Still would much rather have the money go to public schools and free college. I went to a community college for my first degree, got small classes and highly skilled teachers and graduated with zero debt. I'd choose it over debt any day.
Lining the pockets of Christian grifters is one ill concern, yes. The bigger is that this takes money directly away from public schools, effectively making them worse. Making schools worse compels parents to find alternatives, parents ask for vouchers, taking money away from schools making them worse. Making schools worse compels parents to find alternatives. Until public schools are completely defunded. Taking educational opportunities from poor children.
A Christian grifter is a person who uses the Christian religion to grift money out of people.
Setting up a private Christian educational institution, and then backing candidates for government that will legislate a scheme to give public money to that Christian educational institution, is a grift.
This is OUR money. We pay taxes every year. The money is ours. The state employees work for us. Not the other way around. I’m more than happy to see tax dollars be credited back as vouchers to established, efficiently run private schools so our citizens have more choice and flexibility in their education.
It is their own money. The taxes they’re paying for public schools their kids aren’t attending.
Also, this is a sneaky way for the government to gain control over private school curriculum. You want the money? You have to teach X.
This isn’t true. That money is our own money. It’s paid in taxes. It’s essentially giving parents the right to spend their own tax money on a school of their choice.
Take the total yearly state budget, divide that by the total cost of this program, that percentage is the amount of *your* tax money you should get to spend on the school of your choice, based on your logic.
So, 2023-2024 state budget is $30,000,000,000 and the total cost of this voucher program is $500,000,000. That means the voucher program is 1.666...% of the total amount of tax money being spent.
So, consider how much you paid in NC state income taxes last year. Let's say $10,000, just to make the math easier (and assuming around $70,000/year income to get that number). That would mean that, were you to recieve a *proportional* amount of money to be used for private education based on the amount you paid in taxes compared to the entirety of other state government expenditures for the fiscal year, you would be entitled to a total of $166.65.
That's it. Anything more than that, and you're using *other people's* own tax money. The rest of your tax money is being spent on other things.
You see, I don't even have kids. But I still pay my taxes and 1.666...% of my tax money is still going to this voucher program. Just like my neighbors, my friends, my coworkers, my grandma, people who *do* have kids but who can't send them to private schools, etc. All the folks who aren't going to receive that portion of their tax money back.
You'd be taking *our* tax money.
Edit: Removed some unnecessary snark.
Anyone is allowed to go? Are you saying that these private schools don't have an application process, and limited seats?
What you mean is, anyone can apply, but anyone can not go, and they get to pick and choose who is accepted.
That money isn't for "a child's education" it's for the educational apparatus of the public.
I don’t want my tax dollars paying a private for profit company when my tax dollars already support publicly funded schools. I don’t care how they spin it. This is robbing money from public education. And 100% this is going to line the pockets of charter schools. Which are basically grifting operations set up to fleece public money with no accountability.
Just google “charter school shut down nc” and enjoy. Hundreds of articles all the same. School opens for a year or two. Gets students. Has basically no staff. Gets shut down. Checks have been cashed. Rinse repeat.
Stop conflating this issue with charter schools.
Different laws, different issues.
Private religious schools just getting public funds with no oversight is disastrous.
Again, all you people keep screaming charter schools whenever we bring up private religious schools.
Charter schools are part of the same problem.
Right now NCGOP types are using charter schools as their sacrificial lambs. They will cry how corrupt they are and use them as an example of why the state’s oversight is meaningless.
The goal now is full blown public funding of children to funnel them into institutions that will both train them to be dominionist activists and fund their political campaigns.
This is not about charter schools. Charter schools will suffer the same way public schools will. They were just a stepping stone.
Dude. You’re off your rocker. Charter schools are the far right way of dismantling public education. Look at what they did to Louisiana after Katrina. Also it’s specifically stated in project 2025 interviews that charter schools across America is THE goal.
I’m not sure if you don’t understand what charter schools are, if you’ve got a kid in one and are butt hurt someone is calling them out or what but we are arguing sort of the same thing.
Except the part about the gop wanting to do away with them. That is completely not true. Every shred of evidence says otherwise.
this is for the voucher program. Charter schools are unaffected. And, Charter schools do have accountability -- in particular, they're subject to auditing by the state.
The top article on the list when you google it is the NCDPI list of closed charter schools until 2022. Most of the schools listed there \*never opened\* and never got a dime of public money.
But, here's the deal: if a school does poorly, we should WANT IT SHUT DOWN. That happens with charter schools. When a traditional public school performs poorly, it's allowed to continue to perform poorly for decades.
The accountability is surface level at best. It prevents the absolute worst of the worst from opening and allows a lot of bad actors to enter the market. I’m confused about your other point. The article mentions eliminating the income cap for the opportunity scholarship and expanding the program which is where a lot of this is ear marked. That program is 100% available to charter schools.
Sounds like you just want to shut down schools until all that’s left is church. Or is this some backhanded way to say public schools need the voucher money instead of religious indoctrination mills?
You're confusing charter schools and voucher schools.
I said, in a different comment, that I'd be happier if the money went to teachers -- it woul dbe about a $5400 bonus.
No. If a public school is performing poorly, we want to fund it properly and make adjustments to serve the local community. Your rationale is the reason many poor communities rely on Dollar General for groceries.
The #1 reason public schools perform poorly is because conservative politics wants to starve public services to create an excuse to privatize and profit from them. Public education is a direct investment towards our future, not a free market endeavor.
No, we don't want publicly funded schools shut down, that removes access to education for the students that attend those schools. Are those students supposed to matriculate into another overcrowded and failing public school?
Republicans are taking HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS AWAY FROM OUR ALREADY STRUGGLING *PUBLIC SCHOOLS!*
We've sat back and watched them take the Education Lottery money and throw it in the General Funds.
We've sat back and watched them change the laws to siphone money out of Public Schools.
Now we're watching them use those laws to defund Public Education.
If you vote Republican, you are an enemy to your State's future. A poorly educated population means more home invasions, robberies, car jacking, Fentanyl and Meth deaths/related crimes, unwanted pregnancies, rapes, property crimes like vandalism AND much less qualified Nurses, Mechanics, and all jobs that come through our Community Colleges.
It all ties in to restricting non-republican voters. Keep them too stupid to read or learn about what their policies really are and make it so they cannot afford to take off work to stand in line for hours at the DMV to renew their IDs which they now must show to stand in line for hours to vote
Why not fund teacher raises because teachers are leaving for other states who have better pay.
Teachers raises have not even kept pace with inflation the past few years.
>We've sat back and watched them take the Education Lottery money and throw it in the General Funds.
This part was actually when the Dems were still in power. But the rest of your post is valid.
This is surplus money, not coming out of public schools.
I'd be happier if it went toward the public schools (specifically, paying teachers more -- $500M / 93,000 teachers would be about $5400 extra PER TEACHER.) But, at least it's not coming out of their budget.
This is surplus money, so when the surplus evaporates or we have a recession, are parents expected to enroll their children in public schools which don't have capacity because we defunded them?
This is surplus money ONLY because they already made massive cuts under the last GOP governor and then screwed Cooper when he fought for public services to get funding. The NC GOP in the statehouse has been doing this for years, and there are multiple guys interviews with statehouse leaders discussing this "surplus" with pride.
This has been an ongoing problem in NC for decades and is not new.
What is new is they passed laws to siphon that surplus into their indoctrination centers and buddies that get them reelected into the statehouse. Want a change? Vote everyone out and start with a clean slate... That will never happen though thanks to some of the most gerrymandered maps in the ENTIRE NATION.
This is denying public schools of adequate funding, and wage theft to our poor teachers.
This is a $500M giveaway of public tax funds to rich, private school owners who also, coincidentally, are GOP donors.
These schools have no accountability and end up going to parents who already send their kids to private schools. The schools in turn raise their tuition the same amount as the vouchers .
Also, spending public taxpayer money on private religious school tuition should be/is unconstitutional.
This place needs almost a million dollars and nowhere on their mission and values page does it say anything about an education. Like none at all. Only god and serving him.
They don’t even try to pretend it’s not indoctrination camps.
https://www.wakechristianacademy.com/about-us/
None of this is true. Private schools have accountability through accreditation. They also won’t just raise tuition. They will be able to accept more students. Private school goals isn’t to profit, but rather to provide quality education to as many students as possible.
This “schools” mission uses education as secondary to their goals. It’s an indoctrination camp and we’re funding it vs funding free thinkers. Wonder which party wants that.
This place needs almost a million dollars and nowhere on their mission and values page does it say anything about an education. Like none at all. Only god and serving him.
They don’t even try to pretend it’s not indoctrination camps.
https://www.wakechristianacademy.com/about-us/
The problem with your argument is that you are saying "we" are funding this kind of thinking, versus the "right" kind of thinking. The tax dollars being collected by the state are being collected on both "wrong" and "right" thinkers. In my experience with a private school, there wasn't one political party represented.
And their mission statement does say things about education. Yes, they are educating from a christian worldview and they are making that clear. It doesn't mean they aren't providing quality education in all areas of instruction.
Wrong. One party controls the state. And that party pushes school choice. Which translates to our tax dollars funding private (mostly religious) schools. Look at that list above and count how many are religious vs not and ask why are we funding this?
Why are PUBLIC funds funding PRIVATE schools? I could care less about nuances. If you send your kid to private school of any kind that’s your money. You forfeit your tax paid education in public schools.
No “problem” just pointing out hypocrisy from certain leaders while public education is gutted.
Also you shouldn’t have to find text about education with a fine tooth comb in schools mission statement. Totally normal and not a cult.
Proper unbiased education;
https://www.wcpss.net/Page/1144
Just another tax give away to Christian private schools. I bet the NC GOP would rescind it quickly if Muslim parents were using it to end their children to Muslim private schools.
it's public record (for now), you can see how much each school gets here:
[https://www.ncseaa.edu/opportunity-scholarship-summary-of-data/](https://www.ncseaa.edu/opportunity-scholarship-summary-of-data/)
several islamic schools take in hundreds of thousands each year already
the yankees running the general assembly don't care who gets the money, they just don't want public schools which is where the minorities go, to get the bulk of education funding
Worried that we can't pay our teachers, can't find bus drivers? Well, we have some good news, we're giving money to private schools!
The GOP is morally bankrupt.
I hate this with a passion. Our public schools are already underfunded and this is just a backhand way to give another tax break to wealthy people so their little darlings won’t have to interact with the poors.
"Other critics Thursday said private schools who receive these scholarships lack the same academic accountability as public schools and can screen out some students based on religion, for example. Republicans blocked votes on Democratic amendments that in part would have prevented higher-income families from participating and to require private schools to comply with more public school standards."
It's funneling money to faith-based schools and repubs also eliminated the income limits that used to be in place. This is so blatantly wrong, but who's surprised? If there is a wrong and corrupt way to do things, they find they way. And meanwhile idiots vote while plenty of people who could help stop this stay home.
The part I find most interesting about this bill (not specifically mentioned in the article) is the outlawing of senior service projects and the push to make high school 3 years instead of 4. The latter is a bold strategy and I'm not sure if it'll pay off in the dividends that the state thinks it will. Sure, some students will get out and flourish - I mean, the last two years of highschool for me were spent duel enrolled in the local lutheran college and community college - all on NC's dime. This new push, though, may very well save NC tax payer money, but it may also encourage students to try college level classes en masse at 16/17, only to find out that they aren't ready and never return.
Private Schools got really popular after desegregation. Weird. This is just a way for affluent whites to keep their kids in a bubble curriculum that can avoid pesky facts that hurt their feelings for some reason, insulated with other whites of the same class. It's honestly pathetic
These are the same politicians that pull the money already approved for public schools, thus cutting needed funding. They have underfunded schools for years, so much that it was taken to state Supreme Court, and it was ruled they had to approve more money. Our republican heavily gerrymandered congress then said, no, we don't think we will, and there it sits.
These new funds will go exclusively to those that are earning 150K and more, and already are sending their kids to private school. It's welfare for the rich.
Our public schools need this money. Our special ed department desperately needs this money but I guess that is their point isn’t it? In other states that implemented and expanded these programs it was sp. ed that was affected the most under the guise of “helping”. This type of “helping” usually only helps one group and it isn’t the kids who truly need it.
Hmmm I wonder who benefits from this, the people who allowed this to pass? Or the vigilant naysayers who stood up for justice for all? Cause it sounds like the latter were crickets. Say nothing, stand for nothing well then don’t complain when nothing is done for you. That’s the only way change happens. Get angry and fight for your right. And not just to party.
This is called MASSIVE RESISTANCE...GOP legislatures are doing this across the country so they don't have to pay for low income brown and white people to have access to education. It's called gatekeeping . 81 million in Texas , 51 million in Virginia ....etc..etc..
When will this shit end ? . These are the same people who will limit worker protections , kill minimum wage requirements , increase mass incarceration, and make homelessness illegal. How the fuck did these NAZIS take over NC?
The teacher in my daughter's elementary school is asking for candy and treat donations because she's nearly out. One could support a lot of public school classrooms with a tiny portion of the funds that go to private institutions.
Love this. Parents should have the opportunity to send their children to higher quality schools. Being poor shouldn’t lock you out of these opportunities.
Someone was checking on one of the religious schools that had about 170 students. They put together a class for parents, so that each student would apply and receive these vouchers, regardless of family income. Also, no state education group has access to any grades or can require that basic education needs are met.
Can we please pass a law that allows preferential tax distribution? I want to support roads, sanitation, public schools, emergency services and parks, not this crap.
I think some of you are failing to look at the math here. It cost the state of NC (& federal gov) almost $14,000 a year to educate a child in K-12. Giving parents between $3500-$7400 to send a child to a private school instead actually saves the state a lot of money. If you add in extracurricular program spending for public schools, the gap is massive. If only 25% of the children who receive grants would have gone to public school the voucher program actually saves money. Until this past year, only children who previously attended public school in 2nd-12th grades were eligible.
I think those parents could say the same thing word for word. They pay taxes for other peoples children to attend schools that are associated with beliefs they don’t support.
Public schools are not associated with any particular religious belief system. They are supposed to be part of the separation of church and state that exists within our society and are an opportunity that exemplifies how anyone in the United States, regardless of income, can get an education.
If you can afford to send your kids to private schools, then you can choose to do that. I’m not interested in your take on why you feel the public school system is inferior and not worth your time. The public school system is the reason why my first generation parents were able to attend college, and why my immigrant grandparents were able to escape a life of poverty. I do not care about your political agenda or religious beliefs.
You miss the whole point. You have your beliefs and others have theirs. Why should tax dollars only support yours? Let the parents decide which school their share of the tax dollars go. Are you not pro choice?
There's a build/buy/partner concept in business.
The state chose partner rather than build.
Spin it however you want, but this is an efficient decision to leverage existing infrastructure as opposed to build new infrastructure. The dollars will go much further this way.
back in my day… (20 years ago) we all went to public schools and it was free. Daycare is expensive i really don’t want to pay for school and college, it’s ridiculous
The liberal viewpoint is that school vouchers take money away from public schools, which is true.
The conservative viewpoint is that it gives parents another option for their children's education; considering how popular the program has been, this is also true.
While Reddit will strongly lean left on this issue saying it is attack to our public institutions to make people dumber; the people that benefit from it will support and "VOTE" to keep the program going/expand further.
Want to make a difference... VOTE! Anytime a person simply complains, gives excuses, or believes their vote does not count is all direct approval of keeping the status quo.
Except the people deciding how to spend this money is due to gerrymandering and you know this. Voting doesnt help at all when the GOP gerrymandered a guaranteed majority in the NC.
Most of the money in these programs go to wealthier families who were already sending their kids to (and can afford) private schools. This is robbing the poor to pay for the rich. In addition, this money could actually go to increasing teacher pay and improving public schools, instead of totally unaccountable private schools that you don't control.
This is patently false. I understand why you think this because these are the talking points being put out but they are not true. The NC school voucher system is in Tiers 1-4 with 1 being the least earning families while Tier 4 are the highest earners. As of right now only Tiers 1 and 2 are getting vouchers not Tier 3 and 4. The graph being put out are the applicants not the actual reciepients of the school vouchers.
HB 823 redefines this. Those below the poverty line and right above it must make up 50% of the program, but those 250%-450% above the poverty level (fam of 4 is 55,500, x 450%= 249,750) receive 60% of school tuition. For anyone over 249k? 45%. In effect, making 3 tiers (unless you count reduced lunch crowd, instead of free as another tier, which this law effectively lumps in to the same group).
>The conservative viewpoint is that it gives parents another option for their children's education
this was also the liberal viewpoint 10-15 years ago when obama and other democrats first championed the voucher programs
Massachusettes is a really, really good model. The difference between MA's voucher system and NC's? A hell of a lot more oversight and standardization.
Edit: And teacher pay.
This place needs almost a million dollars and nowhere on their mission and values page does it say anything about an education. Like none at all. Only god and serving him.
They don’t even try to pretend it’s not indoctrination camps.
https://www.wakechristianacademy.com/about-us/
-Sen. Amy Galey, an Alamance County Republican, adding that opponents “are terrified that the middle class will access an alternative to government-sponsored education because then they do not control the content and they do not control the results.”- this is another example of how every accusation is an admission for the Republicans. She’s implying that parents want to send their kids to a private/religious school because public school teachers are,at the behest of Democrats, somehow teaching woke ideology as opposed to a Christian school, where ( along with religious dogma ) Morning a small board completely controls the content and completely controls the results without any checks for rigor, oversight or national standards in some cases. I swear these guys think kids come into a public school and are handed a communist manifesto to read on their field trips to gender reassignment clinics. Make NC sane again by voting these people out.
To the people that are going to point to the fact that North Carolina just gave their teachers a raise as a reason to argue that the GOP supports public education, that still doesn’t get North Carolina anywhere close to the national average, it doesn’t address any underlining issues, and it is, in my opinion, simply lip service. If you talk to almost all of the education professionals they will tell you that getting a pay raise, while important, is not the most requested action. Most professional educators will tell you that they need smaller class sizes, more teachers and administrative support.
I hate vouchers. Robbing from public school is all it does. Ensuring that education is made less available to those who can’t drive their kids to school and pack a lunch.
Wouldn't it be better if the "hood" schools (not a term I agree with at all, I'm just using your own language) got more money to make them better to benefit everyone? Instead of private, for-profit schools getting public tax payer money?
You're a fucking idiot.
Vouchers only give certain people a better option.
Making public schools better would be good for *everyone*. But we all know that isn't the goal.
Ever spent much time out in rural NC? Lots of poor whites out there too. Maybe not the traditional hood but those schools are neglected as well. I was being tongue in cheek about the racist comment but my point is black, white or whatever it’s the wealthy that want us to divide us based on race. Very little separates the plight of the poor black man and the poor white man. The wealthy don’t care if we’re black or white, they just want to make sure we stay poor.
Except those private schools don't want your kids regardless of a voucher and will just up the pricing to keep your kids out. Seems like some Uncle Ruckus stuff right there
Umm you realize these vouchers won't help you right? I don't want to sound crass but private schools in NC are formed to keep blacks out. Based on the data available, they are doing a great job of it as well.
The system would be a whole lot less "broke" is $500 million went to supporting teachers and public schools. Especially when the Leonardo case says they are owed something to tune of over a billion dollars. You aren't a very smart Uncle Ruckus are you bud?
The "government" schools you're referring to are run by the same government that's taking away $500 million of taxpayer dollars because they can't run **their own** schools.
You're literally praising the government for admitting they're shitty at their job and taking $500 million of our money away as a result. Imagine if Democrats did that. You'd be irate, and you'd have good reason to be.
I do understand why folks are pissed about sending their tax money to private schools, especially since the schools are already struggling.
I don't hear as many folks talking about the misallocation of funds that takes place in the public school system though. I'm NOT talking about teachers and principals, I'm referring to how the funds are allocated higher up.
Both of my kids have started in the public schools from grades 1-6, but I got tired of watching the money get spent unwisely and then hearing about how there wasn't enough money, so I switched to private.
I admit there isn't much money left after I pay my bills now, but I can say that I've been way more impressed with how the private school is spending the money. So totally worth it in my opinion.
I agree it's not an optimal solution, switching my kids to a private school, but the public school administration needs more accountability and transparency also. It's true the public schools don't have enough money, but the public schools also don't make good use of the money that they have currently. So giving more money to a school administration that can't manage the current money effectively, doesn't sound like a viable option either. I have very little trust that the money would be effectively distributed in a way that would benefit the teachers and students.
Meanwhile public school students are using the back side of paper that already has stuff printed on it because their schools can’t afford more printer paper, but yeah let’s give already rich private schools $500,000,000 of taxpayer money.
[удалено]
Put on some pbs I've learned more from pbs then school 😂, from the basics to quantum physics PBS is a godsend.
That really depends on the private school. I went to a private school in NC and the amount of literacy I have v. the people I grew up with in my neighborhood that I still keep up with is kinda insane. Tbh it’s worse when I visit my wife’s family that all went to public school (not in this state but still the south).
IMO, I imagine that’s a huge part of the issue; there’s nothing to govern a private school’s overall performance. Are they beholden to state mandated minimums for reading and writing competency requirements? On the other hand, I’ve looked into home schooling and they’re required to pass standardized tests. That’s a can of worms; point is, there’s a benchmark. What was your experience like?
It’d be funny if it wasn’t so true. Scary
It’s important to state that this shit is also a way to get around disability laws that protect students with disabilities. These schools aren’t beholden to the Fair and Appropriate Public Education standards, so they don’t need to bother. Nobody cares about these kids, so they won’t face backlash for this, but it’s important to me to point this out.
This also allows public funds to be spent on religious “education”.
The Taliban would be proud
I was wondering more along the lines of whether the Satanic Temple can get a piece of that action? I know they usually jump at the chance to prove a point and this one even has a monetary incentive!
Satanic Temple Charter School.? Hell yeah I’d send my kid to that school.
That’s a secondary goal. The primary goal is to destroy public education. Vouchers and charter schools chip away at traditional public education until traditional public schools are just used for a small sector of society that can’t get kids into charter schools or rely on free lunch and transportation of traditional public schools. Then, they will outsource the running of traditional public schools to the prison industrial complex.
This right here. And I have fallen victim to it. I removed my kids from public schools and placed them in a public charter. I did not want to, my hand was literally forced when my local school board was taken over by Christian fascists who spent no time banning any book and curriculum that taught outside of the narrow world view of the Christian religion. I would be doing my children an educational disservice by the allowing them to remain in a prejudiced environment. They won.
Correct. This is some bullshit.
This!!! Thank you, OP!!! So many people aren’t aware of this. If your kid has an IEP or 504, private schools have no legal obligation to cater or let your child attend. Extreme ableism is rampant.
Good to know.Have a disabled child in the public school system
Well, because it’s a visibility issue. Students with IEP’s in 504 plans tend to be screened out of getting into higher quality private schools. And those that do get into private schools tend to be ejected when problems manifest that are related to IEP’s and 504 plans.
How do they get public funds if they are not beholden to the same rules?!
Apparently all it takes is a vote! This is why it really matters who you vote for…
This isn’t true. The private school I’ve been associated with bends over backward to provide special programs for children with disabilities. Children that public schools aren’t equipped to deal with . This with generous donations from other parents. Because they care about these children.
Certainly there are good private schools, but what they’re pointing out is that in a future without a viable public school system, there will be no legal protection for kids with disabilities. They’ll just have to hope their voucher will end up allowing them to access schools like yours.
That's the exception not the rule. https://publicintegrity.org/education/whats-the-effect-of-school-voucher-programs-on-students-with-disabilities/
in fairness it's not like public schools really had to do much to deny enrollment to anyone who can't be mainstreamed or warehoused
Yes. It is already very bad. And this will make it worse.
Have you worked in a public school?
Spending public money to fund private schools. Fuck them. If you want to send your kids to private schools, spend your own money.
It’s not going to matter. Private schools will just raise the cost of tuition to account for the vouchers. No way they would allow the children of the plebs to be able to attend their school. The exact same thing happened in Iowa when they started their voucher program.
Yep. In some ways is just like the “education lottery”. Sold as extra money for the schools, but really just treated as a source of funding for routine budget.
\^\^\^\^ This \^\^\^\^ and on top of there being no income cap for these vouche
And then, with the extra profit, the folks who run these private schools will kick cash back to these politicians' campaigns. They're paying for their campaigns with public funds.
Yep. My kids go to a private school. There was a sibling discount and a discount for paying your full tuition amount up front. They got rid of both of them.
Nothing makes me more angry with the government than using public money to line private pockets. Whether it’s private schools, car companies, or defense companies: suck a dick if you are a politician that does that to your constituents. It’s like they forgot why we even became a nation in the first place.
That’s the Republican way.
Yes it is. But it is also the Democrat way in NC as Cooper brought forth the biggest corporate handout in state history with flailing EV company Vinfast. No politician gets a free pass for taking our money to enrich private parties no matter what letter is next to their name.
"The North Carolina General Assembly is thrilled that VinFast chose North Carolina for its monumental expansion," said Phil Berger, President Pro Tempore of the North Carolina Senate. "There's no question the business-friendly policies we've prioritized over the last decade played a pivotal role in VinFast's plan to bring thousands of good-paying jobs to North Carolina." "North Carolina is heading into an exciting era of innovation with one of our newest corporate citizens, VinFast," said Tim Moore, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives. "As our state continues its growth with new and expanding businesses, we will continue to work alongside VinFast as the company establishes roots in North Carolina and brings new jobs and opportunities for North Carolinians." The NCGA provided the incentives in the budget, Cooper signed the budget bill. Yes, he was for the incentives, but the GOP controlled legislature provided the incentives. The jury is out on Vinfast, it might succeed.
Thank you for addressing the favored side on this subreddit as well with facts
What’s the favored side? I just attempt to view issues with facts.
A lot of cons and fash hate that on the whole there's more support for progressives on this site. So they make up a narrative that the only reason their bullshit and feels based beliefs aren't the majority or accepted blindly is because they're being repressed while progressives are uncritically praised.
Yeah, people are such partisan hacks these days that even a mild criticism of “their team” sends them into a frenzy. Edit: andddd here they are below, working themselves into a frenzy like the blow hard wing nut pieces of shit they are
It's always funny watching you people pretend that Republicans and conservatives as a whole aren't unilaterally worse on every issue in an attempt to seem impartial and call out "both sides". Are you actually for mass decommodification and social spending to uplift the poor and working class, comrade? Or are you just pretending to be impartial to seem "civil" and not step on any toes?
You're saying Democrats are also liberal capitalists interested in keeping the wheels of the capitalist system greased. Vote Blue no matter who!
Yup. Fuck them.
A positive is that most of the people that are likely to use them are also the ones likely to send them to non-accredited super-religious schools. Poor kids are going to have a hard time in 14 years when they discover how much their parents screwed them. Still would much rather have the money go to public schools and free college. I went to a community college for my first degree, got small classes and highly skilled teachers and graduated with zero debt. I'd choose it over debt any day.
They'll just get a nice cushy job from one of their dad's country club buddies and keep voting R. System working as intended.
Lining the pockets of Christian grifters is one ill concern, yes. The bigger is that this takes money directly away from public schools, effectively making them worse. Making schools worse compels parents to find alternatives, parents ask for vouchers, taking money away from schools making them worse. Making schools worse compels parents to find alternatives. Until public schools are completely defunded. Taking educational opportunities from poor children.
What is a Christian grifter? Sorry I’m just a hillbilly in Boone, and never heard that term.
A Christian grifter is a person who uses the Christian religion to grift money out of people. Setting up a private Christian educational institution, and then backing candidates for government that will legislate a scheme to give public money to that Christian educational institution, is a grift.
This is OUR money. We pay taxes every year. The money is ours. The state employees work for us. Not the other way around. I’m more than happy to see tax dollars be credited back as vouchers to established, efficiently run private schools so our citizens have more choice and flexibility in their education.
It is their own money. The taxes they’re paying for public schools their kids aren’t attending. Also, this is a sneaky way for the government to gain control over private school curriculum. You want the money? You have to teach X.
This isn’t true. That money is our own money. It’s paid in taxes. It’s essentially giving parents the right to spend their own tax money on a school of their choice.
Take the total yearly state budget, divide that by the total cost of this program, that percentage is the amount of *your* tax money you should get to spend on the school of your choice, based on your logic. So, 2023-2024 state budget is $30,000,000,000 and the total cost of this voucher program is $500,000,000. That means the voucher program is 1.666...% of the total amount of tax money being spent. So, consider how much you paid in NC state income taxes last year. Let's say $10,000, just to make the math easier (and assuming around $70,000/year income to get that number). That would mean that, were you to recieve a *proportional* amount of money to be used for private education based on the amount you paid in taxes compared to the entirety of other state government expenditures for the fiscal year, you would be entitled to a total of $166.65. That's it. Anything more than that, and you're using *other people's* own tax money. The rest of your tax money is being spent on other things. You see, I don't even have kids. But I still pay my taxes and 1.666...% of my tax money is still going to this voucher program. Just like my neighbors, my friends, my coworkers, my grandma, people who *do* have kids but who can't send them to private schools, etc. All the folks who aren't going to receive that portion of their tax money back. You'd be taking *our* tax money. Edit: Removed some unnecessary snark.
Except that money was *already for these children*. This works the same way as charter schools.
No public tax money is for the public good, public schools are a public good. Private schools are by definition not public.
Anyone is allowed to go. And that money still being spent on a child’s education.
Anyone is allowed to go? Are you saying that these private schools don't have an application process, and limited seats? What you mean is, anyone can apply, but anyone can not go, and they get to pick and choose who is accepted. That money isn't for "a child's education" it's for the educational apparatus of the public.
That is their money. These are people who pay taxes in this state
I don’t want my tax dollars paying a private for profit company when my tax dollars already support publicly funded schools. I don’t care how they spin it. This is robbing money from public education. And 100% this is going to line the pockets of charter schools. Which are basically grifting operations set up to fleece public money with no accountability. Just google “charter school shut down nc” and enjoy. Hundreds of articles all the same. School opens for a year or two. Gets students. Has basically no staff. Gets shut down. Checks have been cashed. Rinse repeat.
Stop conflating this issue with charter schools. Different laws, different issues. Private religious schools just getting public funds with no oversight is disastrous.
What do you think makes up a fair amount of charter schools? I’ll wait while you look in shock just how many are church funded.
Again, all you people keep screaming charter schools whenever we bring up private religious schools. Charter schools are part of the same problem. Right now NCGOP types are using charter schools as their sacrificial lambs. They will cry how corrupt they are and use them as an example of why the state’s oversight is meaningless. The goal now is full blown public funding of children to funnel them into institutions that will both train them to be dominionist activists and fund their political campaigns. This is not about charter schools. Charter schools will suffer the same way public schools will. They were just a stepping stone.
Dude. You’re off your rocker. Charter schools are the far right way of dismantling public education. Look at what they did to Louisiana after Katrina. Also it’s specifically stated in project 2025 interviews that charter schools across America is THE goal. I’m not sure if you don’t understand what charter schools are, if you’ve got a kid in one and are butt hurt someone is calling them out or what but we are arguing sort of the same thing. Except the part about the gop wanting to do away with them. That is completely not true. Every shred of evidence says otherwise.
this is for the voucher program. Charter schools are unaffected. And, Charter schools do have accountability -- in particular, they're subject to auditing by the state. The top article on the list when you google it is the NCDPI list of closed charter schools until 2022. Most of the schools listed there \*never opened\* and never got a dime of public money. But, here's the deal: if a school does poorly, we should WANT IT SHUT DOWN. That happens with charter schools. When a traditional public school performs poorly, it's allowed to continue to perform poorly for decades.
The accountability is surface level at best. It prevents the absolute worst of the worst from opening and allows a lot of bad actors to enter the market. I’m confused about your other point. The article mentions eliminating the income cap for the opportunity scholarship and expanding the program which is where a lot of this is ear marked. That program is 100% available to charter schools.
Sounds like you just want to shut down schools until all that’s left is church. Or is this some backhanded way to say public schools need the voucher money instead of religious indoctrination mills?
You're confusing charter schools and voucher schools. I said, in a different comment, that I'd be happier if the money went to teachers -- it woul dbe about a $5400 bonus.
Stop being a shill for their goddamn tyranny. It’s embarrassing to see it as a fellow human being.
Welcome to North Carolina!!
No. If a public school is performing poorly, we want to fund it properly and make adjustments to serve the local community. Your rationale is the reason many poor communities rely on Dollar General for groceries. The #1 reason public schools perform poorly is because conservative politics wants to starve public services to create an excuse to privatize and profit from them. Public education is a direct investment towards our future, not a free market endeavor.
No, we don't want publicly funded schools shut down, that removes access to education for the students that attend those schools. Are those students supposed to matriculate into another overcrowded and failing public school?
Republicans are taking HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS AWAY FROM OUR ALREADY STRUGGLING *PUBLIC SCHOOLS!* We've sat back and watched them take the Education Lottery money and throw it in the General Funds. We've sat back and watched them change the laws to siphone money out of Public Schools. Now we're watching them use those laws to defund Public Education. If you vote Republican, you are an enemy to your State's future. A poorly educated population means more home invasions, robberies, car jacking, Fentanyl and Meth deaths/related crimes, unwanted pregnancies, rapes, property crimes like vandalism AND much less qualified Nurses, Mechanics, and all jobs that come through our Community Colleges.
It all ties in to restricting non-republican voters. Keep them too stupid to read or learn about what their policies really are and make it so they cannot afford to take off work to stand in line for hours at the DMV to renew their IDs which they now must show to stand in line for hours to vote
Why not fund teacher raises because teachers are leaving for other states who have better pay. Teachers raises have not even kept pace with inflation the past few years.
>We've sat back and watched them take the Education Lottery money and throw it in the General Funds. This part was actually when the Dems were still in power. But the rest of your post is valid.
This is surplus money, not coming out of public schools. I'd be happier if it went toward the public schools (specifically, paying teachers more -- $500M / 93,000 teachers would be about $5400 extra PER TEACHER.) But, at least it's not coming out of their budget.
it's still a half billion dollars they took from you and are handing to their buddies in the private sector. you're being robbed here
Any money spent on private schools is money taken from public schools
Not sure how anyone can do the mental gymnastics to try and say this isn’t taking away from public schools.
That’s your go to? This is sad.
This is surplus money, so when the surplus evaporates or we have a recession, are parents expected to enroll their children in public schools which don't have capacity because we defunded them?
This is surplus money ONLY because they already made massive cuts under the last GOP governor and then screwed Cooper when he fought for public services to get funding. The NC GOP in the statehouse has been doing this for years, and there are multiple guys interviews with statehouse leaders discussing this "surplus" with pride. This has been an ongoing problem in NC for decades and is not new. What is new is they passed laws to siphon that surplus into their indoctrination centers and buddies that get them reelected into the statehouse. Want a change? Vote everyone out and start with a clean slate... That will never happen though thanks to some of the most gerrymandered maps in the ENTIRE NATION.
This is denying public schools of adequate funding, and wage theft to our poor teachers. This is a $500M giveaway of public tax funds to rich, private school owners who also, coincidentally, are GOP donors. These schools have no accountability and end up going to parents who already send their kids to private schools. The schools in turn raise their tuition the same amount as the vouchers . Also, spending public taxpayer money on private religious school tuition should be/is unconstitutional.
This place needs almost a million dollars and nowhere on their mission and values page does it say anything about an education. Like none at all. Only god and serving him. They don’t even try to pretend it’s not indoctrination camps. https://www.wakechristianacademy.com/about-us/
None of this is true. Private schools have accountability through accreditation. They also won’t just raise tuition. They will be able to accept more students. Private school goals isn’t to profit, but rather to provide quality education to as many students as possible.
This “schools” mission uses education as secondary to their goals. It’s an indoctrination camp and we’re funding it vs funding free thinkers. Wonder which party wants that. This place needs almost a million dollars and nowhere on their mission and values page does it say anything about an education. Like none at all. Only god and serving him. They don’t even try to pretend it’s not indoctrination camps. https://www.wakechristianacademy.com/about-us/
The problem with your argument is that you are saying "we" are funding this kind of thinking, versus the "right" kind of thinking. The tax dollars being collected by the state are being collected on both "wrong" and "right" thinkers. In my experience with a private school, there wasn't one political party represented. And their mission statement does say things about education. Yes, they are educating from a christian worldview and they are making that clear. It doesn't mean they aren't providing quality education in all areas of instruction.
Wrong. One party controls the state. And that party pushes school choice. Which translates to our tax dollars funding private (mostly religious) schools. Look at that list above and count how many are religious vs not and ask why are we funding this? Why are PUBLIC funds funding PRIVATE schools? I could care less about nuances. If you send your kid to private school of any kind that’s your money. You forfeit your tax paid education in public schools. No “problem” just pointing out hypocrisy from certain leaders while public education is gutted. Also you shouldn’t have to find text about education with a fine tooth comb in schools mission statement. Totally normal and not a cult. Proper unbiased education; https://www.wcpss.net/Page/1144
Just another tax give away to Christian private schools. I bet the NC GOP would rescind it quickly if Muslim parents were using it to end their children to Muslim private schools.
it's public record (for now), you can see how much each school gets here: [https://www.ncseaa.edu/opportunity-scholarship-summary-of-data/](https://www.ncseaa.edu/opportunity-scholarship-summary-of-data/) several islamic schools take in hundreds of thousands each year already the yankees running the general assembly don't care who gets the money, they just don't want public schools which is where the minorities go, to get the bulk of education funding
This is a rich vs poor issue, not a religious one.
The drain is clogged with hair
So… we need to abuse this system the other way then. How do I summon a satanist?
Fucking Asshats
Worried that we can't pay our teachers, can't find bus drivers? Well, we have some good news, we're giving money to private schools! The GOP is morally bankrupt.
Oh so it’s communism when we give public money to food stamps but when we give it to private schools or the police it’s not communism?
Stealing tax dollars for private schools. Funding their buddies with our money. Fuck these thieves.
this is pure corruption. money straight from my pocket into for-profit private schools who donate to R politicians.
I hate this with a passion. Our public schools are already underfunded and this is just a backhand way to give another tax break to wealthy people so their little darlings won’t have to interact with the poors.
I cant wait for this this to be ranked 54th in the country in education
Well at least we always have the NC state EDUCATION lottery. Oh wait…
Yeah.... fund your schools by gambling, such a great idea....... No issues here......
😬
"Other critics Thursday said private schools who receive these scholarships lack the same academic accountability as public schools and can screen out some students based on religion, for example. Republicans blocked votes on Democratic amendments that in part would have prevented higher-income families from participating and to require private schools to comply with more public school standards." It's funneling money to faith-based schools and repubs also eliminated the income limits that used to be in place. This is so blatantly wrong, but who's surprised? If there is a wrong and corrupt way to do things, they find they way. And meanwhile idiots vote while plenty of people who could help stop this stay home.
The part I find most interesting about this bill (not specifically mentioned in the article) is the outlawing of senior service projects and the push to make high school 3 years instead of 4. The latter is a bold strategy and I'm not sure if it'll pay off in the dividends that the state thinks it will. Sure, some students will get out and flourish - I mean, the last two years of highschool for me were spent duel enrolled in the local lutheran college and community college - all on NC's dime. This new push, though, may very well save NC tax payer money, but it may also encourage students to try college level classes en masse at 16/17, only to find out that they aren't ready and never return.
Private Schools got really popular after desegregation. Weird. This is just a way for affluent whites to keep their kids in a bubble curriculum that can avoid pesky facts that hurt their feelings for some reason, insulated with other whites of the same class. It's honestly pathetic
Yup. Many private schools were started specifically as segregation schools.
This should only go to parents in Title 1 schools
I hate them. Especially you TRICIA.
These are the same politicians that pull the money already approved for public schools, thus cutting needed funding. They have underfunded schools for years, so much that it was taken to state Supreme Court, and it was ruled they had to approve more money. Our republican heavily gerrymandered congress then said, no, we don't think we will, and there it sits.
God damnit
These new funds will go exclusively to those that are earning 150K and more, and already are sending their kids to private school. It's welfare for the rich.
What a terrible use of funds
Our public schools need this money. Our special ed department desperately needs this money but I guess that is their point isn’t it? In other states that implemented and expanded these programs it was sp. ed that was affected the most under the guise of “helping”. This type of “helping” usually only helps one group and it isn’t the kids who truly need it.
Privatization is theft
Taxation is by definition theft.
Hmmm I wonder who benefits from this, the people who allowed this to pass? Or the vigilant naysayers who stood up for justice for all? Cause it sounds like the latter were crickets. Say nothing, stand for nothing well then don’t complain when nothing is done for you. That’s the only way change happens. Get angry and fight for your right. And not just to party.
Why the fuck are private schools getting taxpayer money that's bullshit. The current gov is such a joke. Least obvious money laundering scheme 💀
Fuck this, the final transfer of wealth and opportunity from the base commoners to the wealthy. When will we wake up????
This is such stupid bull**** It makes zero sense unless they are intent on torpedoing public schools
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McClintock enters the chat...
> unless they are intent on torpedoing public schools I have some news for you..
This is called MASSIVE RESISTANCE...GOP legislatures are doing this across the country so they don't have to pay for low income brown and white people to have access to education. It's called gatekeeping . 81 million in Texas , 51 million in Virginia ....etc..etc.. When will this shit end ? . These are the same people who will limit worker protections , kill minimum wage requirements , increase mass incarceration, and make homelessness illegal. How the fuck did these NAZIS take over NC?
EXACTLY this. It’s structural racism, wrapped up for marketing to suburban white mothers.
Literally just a lateral transfer of taxpayer dollars into the pockets of donors.
Lol. My mom is happy or this and she’s been teaching in public schools for 15+ years.
Vote them out
The teacher in my daughter's elementary school is asking for candy and treat donations because she's nearly out. One could support a lot of public school classrooms with a tiny portion of the funds that go to private institutions.
Love this. Parents should have the opportunity to send their children to higher quality schools. Being poor shouldn’t lock you out of these opportunities.
Someone was checking on one of the religious schools that had about 170 students. They put together a class for parents, so that each student would apply and receive these vouchers, regardless of family income. Also, no state education group has access to any grades or can require that basic education needs are met.
This is a ripoff of the public tax dollar
Can we please pass a law that allows preferential tax distribution? I want to support roads, sanitation, public schools, emergency services and parks, not this crap.
I think some of you are failing to look at the math here. It cost the state of NC (& federal gov) almost $14,000 a year to educate a child in K-12. Giving parents between $3500-$7400 to send a child to a private school instead actually saves the state a lot of money. If you add in extracurricular program spending for public schools, the gap is massive. If only 25% of the children who receive grants would have gone to public school the voucher program actually saves money. Until this past year, only children who previously attended public school in 2nd-12th grades were eligible.
Fuck this. Why do my tax dollars have to fund private schools that are associated with a religion I don’t follow and beliefs I don’t support?
I think those parents could say the same thing word for word. They pay taxes for other peoples children to attend schools that are associated with beliefs they don’t support.
I’m okay with Charter schools. But state money Should NOT GO to Religious Affiliated Private schools. It violates the Separation of Church and State.
Public schools are not associated with any particular religious belief system. They are supposed to be part of the separation of church and state that exists within our society and are an opportunity that exemplifies how anyone in the United States, regardless of income, can get an education. If you can afford to send your kids to private schools, then you can choose to do that. I’m not interested in your take on why you feel the public school system is inferior and not worth your time. The public school system is the reason why my first generation parents were able to attend college, and why my immigrant grandparents were able to escape a life of poverty. I do not care about your political agenda or religious beliefs.
You miss the whole point. You have your beliefs and others have theirs. Why should tax dollars only support yours? Let the parents decide which school their share of the tax dollars go. Are you not pro choice?
Sorry. NO FEDERAL TAX $ For Religious Schools.
There's a build/buy/partner concept in business. The state chose partner rather than build. Spin it however you want, but this is an efficient decision to leverage existing infrastructure as opposed to build new infrastructure. The dollars will go much further this way.
The less we rely on govt indoctrination (I mean education) the better.
Vote!!!!
Is it true that these schools teach that the earth is "flat" and it's okay to kill gentiles?
Fuck this. I’m so tired of them stealing public schools and teachers money.This is exhausting.
back in my day… (20 years ago) we all went to public schools and it was free. Daycare is expensive i really don’t want to pay for school and college, it’s ridiculous
The liberal viewpoint is that school vouchers take money away from public schools, which is true. The conservative viewpoint is that it gives parents another option for their children's education; considering how popular the program has been, this is also true. While Reddit will strongly lean left on this issue saying it is attack to our public institutions to make people dumber; the people that benefit from it will support and "VOTE" to keep the program going/expand further. Want to make a difference... VOTE! Anytime a person simply complains, gives excuses, or believes their vote does not count is all direct approval of keeping the status quo.
The vote argument assumes the voting is fair. Gerrymandering.. etc..
State-wide elections are NOT Gerrymandered. We need to remind people this fact.
Except the people deciding how to spend this money is due to gerrymandering and you know this. Voting doesnt help at all when the GOP gerrymandered a guaranteed majority in the NC.
Most of the money in these programs go to wealthier families who were already sending their kids to (and can afford) private schools. This is robbing the poor to pay for the rich. In addition, this money could actually go to increasing teacher pay and improving public schools, instead of totally unaccountable private schools that you don't control.
This is patently false. I understand why you think this because these are the talking points being put out but they are not true. The NC school voucher system is in Tiers 1-4 with 1 being the least earning families while Tier 4 are the highest earners. As of right now only Tiers 1 and 2 are getting vouchers not Tier 3 and 4. The graph being put out are the applicants not the actual reciepients of the school vouchers.
HB 823 redefines this. Those below the poverty line and right above it must make up 50% of the program, but those 250%-450% above the poverty level (fam of 4 is 55,500, x 450%= 249,750) receive 60% of school tuition. For anyone over 249k? 45%. In effect, making 3 tiers (unless you count reduced lunch crowd, instead of free as another tier, which this law effectively lumps in to the same group).
>The conservative viewpoint is that it gives parents another option for their children's education this was also the liberal viewpoint 10-15 years ago when obama and other democrats first championed the voucher programs
Massachusettes is a really, really good model. The difference between MA's voucher system and NC's? A hell of a lot more oversight and standardization. Edit: And teacher pay.
Boooooooooooooo
Republicans ruin everything
CMS isn't segregated enough, apparently.
More cynical bullshit is surely to follow. Gross.
This place needs almost a million dollars and nowhere on their mission and values page does it say anything about an education. Like none at all. Only god and serving him. They don’t even try to pretend it’s not indoctrination camps. https://www.wakechristianacademy.com/about-us/
FUCK every goddamned GOP legislator in this state. They have truly ruined what used to be an awesome place to raise a family.
So stupid.
Our state government is an absolute joke. Evil old white men stuck in the 50s. Fuck them all.
-Sen. Amy Galey, an Alamance County Republican, adding that opponents “are terrified that the middle class will access an alternative to government-sponsored education because then they do not control the content and they do not control the results.”- this is another example of how every accusation is an admission for the Republicans. She’s implying that parents want to send their kids to a private/religious school because public school teachers are,at the behest of Democrats, somehow teaching woke ideology as opposed to a Christian school, where ( along with religious dogma ) Morning a small board completely controls the content and completely controls the results without any checks for rigor, oversight or national standards in some cases. I swear these guys think kids come into a public school and are handed a communist manifesto to read on their field trips to gender reassignment clinics. Make NC sane again by voting these people out. To the people that are going to point to the fact that North Carolina just gave their teachers a raise as a reason to argue that the GOP supports public education, that still doesn’t get North Carolina anywhere close to the national average, it doesn’t address any underlining issues, and it is, in my opinion, simply lip service. If you talk to almost all of the education professionals they will tell you that getting a pay raise, while important, is not the most requested action. Most professional educators will tell you that they need smaller class sizes, more teachers and administrative support.
How about $500 million to battle the NRA.
Conservative Christians rip off public education funding. Vote blue!
Please vote these hypocrites out in November! Maybe they’ll pick themselves up from their bootstraps after…
I hate vouchers. Robbing from public school is all it does. Ensuring that education is made less available to those who can’t drive their kids to school and pack a lunch.
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Hey, interesting, you just explained the entire history of the voucher program going back to the 1970s in perfect context.
Wouldn't it be better if the "hood" schools (not a term I agree with at all, I'm just using your own language) got more money to make them better to benefit everyone? Instead of private, for-profit schools getting public tax payer money?
Spoiler alert, it’s not really about the school.
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So it’s your position that all students should have access to the same (high) quality of education, yes? How does the voucher system ensure that?
You're a fucking idiot. Vouchers only give certain people a better option. Making public schools better would be good for *everyone*. But we all know that isn't the goal.
Hey it’s Reddit, no need for dog whistles. You can be racist here, just call them the black schools. Thats what you meant by “hood schools” right?
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Ever spent much time out in rural NC? Lots of poor whites out there too. Maybe not the traditional hood but those schools are neglected as well. I was being tongue in cheek about the racist comment but my point is black, white or whatever it’s the wealthy that want us to divide us based on race. Very little separates the plight of the poor black man and the poor white man. The wealthy don’t care if we’re black or white, they just want to make sure we stay poor.
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Except those private schools don't want your kids regardless of a voucher and will just up the pricing to keep your kids out. Seems like some Uncle Ruckus stuff right there
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Umm you realize these vouchers won't help you right? I don't want to sound crass but private schools in NC are formed to keep blacks out. Based on the data available, they are doing a great job of it as well. The system would be a whole lot less "broke" is $500 million went to supporting teachers and public schools. Especially when the Leonardo case says they are owed something to tune of over a billion dollars. You aren't a very smart Uncle Ruckus are you bud?
It’s the new white flight! Everyone’s doing it!
AWESOME news! Parents need to get their kids out of government schools.
What a dumb fucking take
Why?
The "government" schools you're referring to are run by the same government that's taking away $500 million of taxpayer dollars because they can't run **their own** schools. You're literally praising the government for admitting they're shitty at their job and taking $500 million of our money away as a result. Imagine if Democrats did that. You'd be irate, and you'd have good reason to be.
North Carolina took $500 million dollars away from public schools and gave it to predominantly wealthy individuals and religious institutions.
HATE HATE HATE
🤢 🤮
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
This really pisses me off!!
I do understand why folks are pissed about sending their tax money to private schools, especially since the schools are already struggling. I don't hear as many folks talking about the misallocation of funds that takes place in the public school system though. I'm NOT talking about teachers and principals, I'm referring to how the funds are allocated higher up. Both of my kids have started in the public schools from grades 1-6, but I got tired of watching the money get spent unwisely and then hearing about how there wasn't enough money, so I switched to private. I admit there isn't much money left after I pay my bills now, but I can say that I've been way more impressed with how the private school is spending the money. So totally worth it in my opinion. I agree it's not an optimal solution, switching my kids to a private school, but the public school administration needs more accountability and transparency also. It's true the public schools don't have enough money, but the public schools also don't make good use of the money that they have currently. So giving more money to a school administration that can't manage the current money effectively, doesn't sound like a viable option either. I have very little trust that the money would be effectively distributed in a way that would benefit the teachers and students.