July 19, 2025

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Top 5 Reasons NC Legislators Need to Act!

Our public schools are facing unprecedented chaos and uncertainty as they
are preparing to start the new school year. NC legislators must act now to
help our school districts face actions taken by the Trump administration
that are severely impacting our public educators and students. [7]NC
Attorney General Jeff Jackson and 23 other states are suing to prevent the
U.S. Department of Education from cutting billions in funds for the
nation’s schools and educators but that is not enough. It is time for our
legislators to act to support our families, students, and teachers. Our
children need them to do their legislative duty!

Here are 5 reasons we need legislators to show up now!

(1) U.S. Congress Has Failed Our Students & Educators. The federal budget
has cut public education funds and slashed healthcare and food assistance
for millions of children and their families. The [8]U.S. Department of
Education has withheld $165.4 million that was already allocated to our
public schools, forcing our schools to cut crucial student services. See
how much is lost to your [9]district HERE

Further, the new federal spending bill creates a federal school voucher
program that will siphon even more money from public schools. Overall, the
federal bill prioritizes private and religious schools at the expense of
public education. It will negatively impact students, families, and
educators, particularly those in lower socioeconomic brackets. Once again,
public schools will not receive this influx of private donors to supplement
their programs leaving public schools with another funding disadvantage.
This federal betrayal of our children continues to undermine our public
schools without giving them the resources they need.

(2) NC Public Schools Are in Limbo Without A State Budget. Schools across
the state will start the new school year next month (and year-round schools
have already started), but superintendents are scrambling to finalize plans
without a state budget. Of course this is made worse by the loss of federal
funds. This combination has created the worst challenge our school
districts have faced since the 2008 recession. School districts do not know
how they are going to fund student services and staff covered by the
impounded federal funds. Some local districts have implemented a [10]hiring
freeze and have frozen or cut funding for crucial programs and resources
for the coming school year. The lack of a state budget is harming local
school districts that are already triaging due to federal cuts.

(3) NC School Vouchers Are Draining Our State Budget. While our public
schools are struggling with teacher vacancies, serving our special needs
children, cutting student services, and paying for the classroom resources
they need, private schools are getting [11]huge investments with
taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers. In the last school year, private schools
received [12]more than $432 million in public funds. The current budget
appropriation for 2025-26 is [13]$731 million for both voucher programs. In
some counties, the majority of vouchers are going to families too wealthy
to have qualified for vouchers last year (e.g. [14]Wake County: 66% to
wealthy families)

(4) NC's Most Vulnerable Children Are at RISK. Low-income children and
families risk losing access to healthcare, food security, and financial
stability due to recent budget decisions. While estimates vary,
[15]projections show that over half a million North Carolinians will lose
health insurance coverage including medications for thousands of
impoverished and disabled children; 1.4 million could face food insecurity
and 45,000 have jobs that are in jeopardy. We need our legislators to act
now to support and protect the health and wellbeing of our children, our
public schools, rural hospitals, and economically disadvantaged
communities.

(5) NC Students & Families Deserve Well-Funded Public Schools. The
combination of damaging federal action and state inaction means our schools
are facing staffing shortages, cuts in crucial student programs, and
increased uncertainty for educators and families. The hardship faced at the
local level is unnecessary in a state with other options such as stopping
cuts to corporate taxes. It is NC's constitutional duty to ensure that
every child has a high quality and free public education. Our schools
already lack the teacher assistants, school nurses, school social workers,
and school psychologists they need. North Carolina [16]ranks 49th in
education funding effort. We could spend more based on our state wealth,
but lawmakers are choosing to underfund public schools. NC teachers are
some of the lowest paid in the nation with salaries that have not even kept
up with inflation.

It’s time for our state legislators to return to Raleigh and make decisions
to help our students and communities! Our state's children and educators
deserve better than what we are getting from our federal and state elected
officials. It is a failure of leadership that our public schools and
communities are dealing with the chaotic and harmful federal cuts without
state legislative guidance or assistance.

Contact your legislators [17]HERE.

Here is the Truth: School Vouchers Just Don't Work

The Southern Education Foundation released data on student outcomes for
students who have used vouchers to attend private schools and it shows just
how bad vouchers really are. Their [18]brief contains links to all data
sources.

North Carolina is not included in their study because reporting student
achievement data for the private schools receiving vouchers is not required
by the NC legislature. State lawmakers could easily require true
accountability for private schools receiving tax-funded vouchers. Their
failure to do so strongly suggests that they know vouchers do not improve
educational outcomes.

Alabama. 10th and 11th-grade voucher recipients taking the PSAT/NMSQT
performed worse than comparable economically disadvantaged public school
students. The voucher program did not improve student outcomes, and more
time in the program also did not lead to improved student outcomes.

Arkansas. Voucher students were reported to average around the 50th
percentile in both ELA and math. In other words, they performed exactly
average, while the program drains funds from the public school system.

Florida. Voucher recipients scored below average in reading and math on
nationally norm-referenced tests, highlighting a lack of academic
achievement.

Louisiana. 86% of students who received school vouchers did not meet state
achievement targets.

Maryland. Voucher recipients performed worse than non-voucher students when
assessed at many levels across multiple tests. In 9 out of 10 grades,
voucher students scored at least 12 percentage points lower in English than
public school students. In 8 out of 10 grades, voucher students scored at
least 10 percentage points lower than public school students.

Tennessee. Data shows that when compared to their peers in public schools,
students receiving vouchers perform worse. Approximately 52% of voucher
recipients scored “Below Expectations” in math on statewide academic
achievement assessments compared to just 37% in public schools.

Legislative and SBE Updates

The House and Senate are scheduled to convene on Monday, June 21, but the
NCGA has only one committee meeting scheduled (America's Semiquincentennial
Committee, Thursday).

Check the l[19]egislative calendar for updates. Legislative leaders may
decide that the current funding crisis merits coming back to Raleigh to
work on a budget next week.

Read our [20]Week in Review for information about bills that made crossover
and may still see action in the NCGA.

Take Action to Unfreeze Federal Funds for Schools

Take action to help our public schools!

North Carolina joined 23 other states in a lawsuit demanding that the U.S.
Department of Education release funds it withheld from public schools on
July 1. The funds scheduled to be distributed were appropriated by Congress
in March as part of a continuing resolution budget passed into law after
being signed by the president. As a result, withholding funds from schools
now is illegal.

North Carolina's public schools (traditional and charter) are losing more
than $165 million. Rural schools are being hit the hardest, with Ashe and
Polk Counties losing more than $400/student.

Please contact your lawmakers and urge them to require the U.S. Department
of Education to release the funds.

[21]SEND AN EMAIL (You can use our customizable template.)

[22]CALL THEM DIRECTLY (Scroll down to find the list of phone numbers.)

New Report!

Public Schools First NC has released a new report: NC School Vouchers—Using
Tax Dollars to Discriminate Against Students & Families!

As recent reporting highlights, "[23]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 [24]$432 million.
Current appropriations earmark [25]$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.

[26]READ THE REPORT!

In Case You Missed It

[27]NC charter schools are growing more diverse, but districts serve more
high-need students

[28]"Dire situation": Southeastern North Carolina school districts grapple
with federal funding freeze

[29]Wake schools chief: District can cover paused federal programs for 3
months

[30]24 states sue Trump admin to unfreeze more than $6 billion in education
grants

[31]Families hoard ESA funds as Arizona public schools face low funding,
records show

Summer Reads

There's still time to get a great book, enjoy some summer reading, and help
support our work! Over the past few years we have partnered with some
incredible authors to share their work with you.

Our conversations with many of them can be viewed on our [32]YouTube
channel.

If you [33]donate, $50 dollars or more, we will send you a book of your
choice. You will receive a great book and your donation is tax-deductible!

Request A Speaker!

Need a speaker for your next event or group meeting? PSFNC welcomes the
opportunity to speak to your group or organization on public
education-related topics.

We offer our programs virtually to improve accessibility and attendance and
therefore extend your reach. Our services are free of charge but may
require travel-related expenses if the program is in-person.

Email us at [email protected] for more information.

Words to Remember

“Public schools across North Carolina, especially in rural areas, need this
money to keep teachers in the classroom and keep kids safe while they
learn. It’s unlawful and unconstitutional for the Department of Education
to withhold money that Congress has appropriated.”

— NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson, July 14, 2025

Help us support public schools!

Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit
focused solely

on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents,
teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina
to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each
child for productive citizenship.

[34]DONATE HERE

[35]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Questions? Contact us today at [email protected]

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