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 school students." In the 2024-25 school year, the state private K-12 tuition subsidy topped $432 million as public schools contend with cutting current budgets, federal U.S. Department of Education funding freezes, and looming cuts resulting from the federal budget just signed into law.
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.
Below are a few examples of the discriminatory policies of voucher-accepting private schools. These represent a broad array of policies. Read the report and appendix for more. The report contains links to the cited policies.
"FCS will not admit families that belong to or express faith in religions that deny the absolute Deity/Trinity of Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior and path to salvation." — Fayetteville Christian School, Fayetteville (Received $3,674,927 in taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers in 2024-25.)
“Cape Fear Christian Academy is a private educational institution and therefore has no federal mandate to provide special education and related services to disabled students. The Academy requires that students continue to work on grade level in order to remain eligible for continuing enrollment at the Academy. Public schools are subject to the mandates of the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA) and can provide such programs and services.”— Cape Fear Christian Academy, Erwin (Received $1,460,128 in taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers in 2024-25).
“On those occasions in which the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home is counter to or in opposition to the biblical lifestyle the school teaches, the school reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, living in, condoning, or supporting sexual immorality; homosexual acts or sexual orientation; promoting such practices; or otherwise the inability to support the moral principles of the school.” — Millersville Christian Academy, Taylorsville (Received $1,459,447 in taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers in 2024-25.)
“Acceptance Policy: Students must score on grade level and complete the application process to be eligible for enrollment. Generally, stanine scores must be in the 4 or higher range in reading and math. Students with IQs of 90 or less are not accepted because of the difficulty they will have being successful in our academic program. NRCA does not enroll students whose learning, behavioral, or physical needs cannot be met by our existing programs, services, or staff. IEPs are not available at NRCA.” — North Raleigh Christian Academy, Raleigh (Received $4,319,985 in taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers in 2024-25.)
The report includes recommendations lawmakers could quickly pass to prohibit private school discrimination for any school that accepts state funding.
