Public Schools First NC has released a new report: NC School Vouchers—Using Tax Dollars to Discriminate Against Students & Families!
As recent reporting highlights, “North Carolina now subsidizes the tuition cost for the majority of private students.” In the 2024-25 school year, the state private K-12 tuition subsidy topped $432 million. Current appropriations earmark $731 million for state voucher programs next year.
These voucher programs require virtually no accountability for how the funds are spent, whether the schools provide adequate instructional programs, or whether they discriminate against types of students or their families. As a result, taxpayers are left without even the most rudimentary understanding of the private schools benefiting from unprecedented generosity of majority lawmakers in the NC General Assembly.
Our new report uncovers hundreds of examples of how voucher-accepting private schools screen applicants to secure their desired student population. Unlike public schools that accept all students, many private schools employ discriminatory practices to select only students who conform to their religious beliefs or don’t pose instructional or behavioral challenges.
