(The Center Square) – Republican leaders in North Carolina on Friday announced a mini-budget spending plan that will clear a 55,000-student wait list for school choice.
The measure, scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives at 2 p.m. Wednesday, is attached to a requirement of the 100 county sheriffs to cooperate with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A release from Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, says House Bill 10 spends $248 million to clear the Opportunity Scholarship waiting list for the 2024-25 school year. It also funds $215.5 million in recurring scholarship awards for 2025-26 fiscal year.
There is also $24.7 million in recurring funding to clear the waiting list for children with disabilities.
Another $741.1 million is also in the legislation.
From that, education efforts get $95 million toward K-12 enrollment increases and $64 million for community college enrollment growth. Health care assistance includes $277 million in recurring funding and $100 million in nonrecurring funding for Medicaid. And toward business growth, there is $150 million for major transportation improvements at the Randolph County megasite and $55.1 million for infrastructure improvements to support economic development in Chatham County.
Randolph and Chatham counties are in the central Piedmont and the hub for multiple, billion-dollar projects related to the electric vehicle industry. Millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidy incentives are attached. Greensboro and the Triad is to the northwest of the site; Raleigh and the Triangle are to the east.
“Families across North Carolina made it clear that they want a greater say in their child’s education,” Berger said. “Whether you’re a single parent, a young family, or in a military household, educational freedom should be attainable for all. This agreement addresses the increased demand for Opportunity Scholarships and includes the necessary funding for public school enrollment increases.”
In another release, his counterpart in the House, Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said, “As North Carolina families grapple with rising costs and economic uncertainty thanks to the failed policies of the Biden-Harris administration, it is our responsibility as lawmakers to remain committed to responsible spending and economic growth. This mini-budget agreement will fund our K-12 and community college enrollment growth, clear the Opportunity Scholarship wait list to expand school choice to all North Carolina families, will increase funding to keep our Medicaid system fully funded, and will authorize new rural broadband expansion across the state.”
Berger and Moore said the broadband section will expand high-speed internet to rural communities, “to ensure every North Carolinian has broadband access,” Berger’s release said.
Moore said the inclusion of ICE cooperation, the original intent of HB10 when first filed Jan. 25, 2023, will combat the Biden administration’s policies – he calls it “law currently ignored” – at the nation’s borders. The Center Square, through sources and government records, has estimated more than 12 million people have entered or are living in America illegally since President Joe Biden took the oath of office.
Democrats on Thursday were preemptive in a press conference in the Legislative Building on Jones Street led by Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake. Gov. Roy Cooper criticized Republicans’ intent “to siphon hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars out of public schools.” He said, “They should invest in public education instead so we can give teachers an overdue pay raise.”
Charter schools are public schools in North Carolina. The Opportunity Scholarships are available to every child for use at any school, whether public, charter or private.
The state has an estimated 1.8 million students with just under 1.4 million enrolled in traditional public schools. Enrollment trends show about 10% of students have shifted from traditional public schools to alternative options over the last 15 years.
At $17.9 billion, more than half of this fiscal year’s state budget was already being spent on education prior to the additional investments announced Friday.
