It’s already happened to states like Ohio that funded voucher expansion at the expense of the public school system and made it possible for wealthier white families who already sent their students to private schools to get a “tax break” and receive a voucher to offset costs they already could handle.

Kentucky is next on that list as is North Carolina with the expansion of the “Opportunity Grants” as our vouchers are medicinally called.

Nick Anderson’s political cartoon above from last spring may have been primarily for a Texan audience, but it is highly applicable in our state as the push to extend vouchers has ramped up, thanks to a bill introduced in 2023 that has the turncoat Tricia Cotham as the primary sponsor.

“For all students, per year per eligible student, an amount of up to forty-five percent (45%) of the average State per pupil allocation for average daily membership in the prior fiscal year, unless the student qualifies for a higher amount under this subsection.“

This voucher expansion will hit rural counties quicker and harder as of the 100 counties in NC, over 75 of them are considered rural by the NC Rural Center.

According to Public Schools First: NC

“Approximately 40 percent of the state’s public school students reside in rural counties, and 87 of the 115 traditional K-12 public school districts are located in rural counties.”

When the LEANDRO court case was first filed about a QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO, it specifically targeted the funding of rural counties that house school systems that have lower on average local supplements for teachers and schools that generally serviced a higher percentage of the school age children within the county/town boundaries.

Allowing vouchers to have this big of a presence in NC will literally draw money away from the local rural school system and place it in schools where the local people have no oversight.

Pure and simple. Literally local money will be going to fund private schools that do not have to take all applicants.