Read the fiery ruling striking down NC school voucher program
Last week a North Carolina judge struck down a law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature that sought to award taxpayer-funded vouchers to low-income families that want to send their children to private schools.
On Aug. 21, Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood handed down his decision that North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) violates the state constitution, which specifies that the power of taxation shall be exercised "for public purposes only." The N.C. Association of Educators, the N.C. Justice Center, the N.C. School Boards Association, and dozens of local school boards had challenged the program.
In 2013, state legislators passed a budget that allocated $10 million for the scholarships, which would provide up to $4,200 per year to qualifying students to attend a private school of their family's choice. In North Carolina, 70 percent of private schools are religious institutions. Promoted by school privatization advocates, the scholarships have been referred to by critics as "neovouchers."
Hobgood first put North Carolina's program on hold in February when he issued a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit. House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate leader Phil Berger, both Republicans, pressured state Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, to appeal, but he declined. However, parents who intervened in the case appealed, and in May the state Supreme Court overturned Hobgood's injunction.
In last week's ruling, Hobgood pointed to the state's responsibility to provide a "sound basic education" to children attending public school as required under the state Supreme Court's 1997 Leandro decision, which came in a lawsuit filed against the state by parents, children, and school districts in high-poverty rural counties. They argued that despite higher-than-average tax rates, schools in those counties ended up with lower-than-average revenues and thus could not provide an equal education.
Hobgood forbade the voucher program from distributing any money. Voucher supporters immediately asked the N.C. Court of Appeals to issue an emergency ruling allowing the funds to be paid out to the families of the more than 1,800 children who were accepted into the program this year, but a three-judge panel rejected the request on Monday, saying it was too early to act without a written order from Hobgood. Attorneys for Berger, Tillis and several affected families then turned to the N.C. Supreme Court, which still has not decided on the Read the fiery ruling striking down NC school voucher program: