(The Center Square) – About 55,000 students and their families have been denied school choice by the North Carolina governor.
Casting his 103rd veto, Gov. Roy Cooper said no to House Bill 10 on Friday morning. The bill, if passed, would clear a waiting list for Opportunity Scholarships. Families still have hope; a veto override vote is expected by the General Assembly.
The legislation also requires sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement.
“Studies show that private school vouchers do not improve student performance, but we won’t know with North Carolina’s voucher scheme because it has the least accountability in the country,” Cooper wrote in his veto message.
Proponents of school choice say accountability is there – families speak with their feet. Meaning, when parents feel a school doesn’t measure up, they have the option to choose another. Many state public schools are assigned based on home address, meaning students can’t choose to escape poor performing schools and educators.
There were no Republicans against the bill in either chamber. Reps. Carla Cunningham of Mecklenburg County, Shelly Willingham of Edgecombe and Michael Wray of Northampton were Democrats in the House of Representatives voting in favor of the bill.
“All public schools,” Cooper continued, “will be hurt by the Legislature wasting its planned $4 billion of the public’s money over the next decade with rural public schools being hurt the worst. This money should be used to improve our public schools by raising teacher pay and investing in public school students.”
Opportunity Scholarships can be used for students to attend another traditional K-12 public school, charter schools or private schools. Charter schools are public schools, a fact that is often either mischaracterized or outright mistaken.
Republicans favor the $463 million in the bill going to Opportunity Scholarships, citing the immense appeal of school choice; Democrats echo Cooper, saying it erodes the public school system.
The spending plan is essentially a mini-budget amendment to the state’s two-year fiscal plan. It also supplies more money for Medicaid and rural broadband access, two heavily-favored Democratic initiatives on the state and national level. The legislation would provide a retroactive option for reimbursement of costs this fall at private schools.
The bill began, and contains, language for all 100 county sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers.
When House Bill 10 had cleared both chambers on Sept. 11, House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said in a statement, “The legislation passed today prioritizes quality education, public safety, health care, and broadband access. The mini-budget strengthens our commitment to school choice for all North Carolina families as well as public education, with historic investments in enrollment growth for both K-12 public schools and our community colleges.”
Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, sponsored the legislation.
Before Cooper took office in January 2017, there had been 16 successful overrides of 54 vetoes since North Carolina became the last state in the nation to enact the power before the 1997-98 legislative session. Of Cooper’s 103, the General Assembly is 49-for-49 when trying to override having three-fifths majority Republicans, and 0-for-13 when it tries and does not.
Three-fifths vote in the General Assembly means minimums of 30 in the Senate, 72 in the House.
