Initially the state Supreme Court signaled that it wanted to move quickly to rule on whether tax-financed vouchers for private school students violated the North Carolina Constitution. But now, it seems, the justices have taken the case off the fast track.

The Republican-majority legislature, however, isn’t inclined to wait around for the Supreme Court. Having already appropriated nearly $11 million in financial assistance to private school students in households of modest income, lawmakers provided another $6.8 million in both House and Senate budget bills for the 2015-16 fiscal year. And this week, House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger asked the high court to release funds for vouchers for the 2015-16 school year, even as the justices continue to weigh whether the subsidies are constitutional.

Thus, the issue of vouchers — or, Opportunity Scholarships, as they are called here in North Carolina — remains in play in terms of both constitutionality and public policy. It is an issue laden with significance for the future of schooling in North Carolina:

Proponents see vouchers as enabling parents to choose a suitable school for their children; opponents see the law as undermining the very concept of public schools as institutions essential to the common good.

In my experience, private schools, however robust, cannot substitute for a strong system of public education in creating the conditions for a sound and equitable economic environment and community cohesiveness.

I say this as a product of private education. Growing up in the dense Catholic region of southern Louisiana, my parents, without government financial assistance, sent me to parochial elementary schools and to Catholic High School in Baton Rouge. I got my bachelor’s degree from Jesuit-run Loyola University New Orleans, and a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York.

No doubt, the United States, as well as North Carolina, benefits from educational diversity; private schools surely produce responsible, ethical citizens, as well as civic and business leaders. But taken in aggregate, private schools are as uneven educationally as public schools; some are splendid, some not strong enough, too many too weak.

In finding the voucher law unconstitutional, Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood delivered a compelling ruling. When he decided the case in August 2014, Hobgood, a veteran jurist, did not hem and haw and hedge. The General Assembly, he ruled, must use public funds to assure a sound basic education to North Carolina young people in compliance with the Constitution, as interpreted previously by the high court.

“The Opportunity Scholarships would provide taxpayer funds to private schools without regard to whether these schools satisfy substantive educational standards. Appropriating taxpayer funds to unaccountable schools does not accomplish a public purpose, in violation of North Carolina Constitution Article 5…”

“The General Assembly,” Hobgood said, “cannot constitutionally delegate this responsibility to unregulated private schools by use of taxpayer Opportunity Scholarships to low-income parents who have self-assessed their children to be at risk. Private schools receiving Opportunity Scholarships are not subject to any requirements or standards regarding the curriculum that they teach, are given no requirement for student achievement, are not obligated to demonstrate any growth in student performance, and are not even obligated to provide a minimum amount of instructional time. The Opportunity Scholarships would provide taxpayer funds to private schools without regard to whether these schools satisfy substantive educational standards. Appropriating taxpayer funds to unaccountable schools does not accomplish a public purpose, in violation of North Carolina Constitution Article 5…”

Still, a month later, the Court of Appeals allowed the state to distribute the first round of vouchers while Hobgood’s ruling was appealed. Then, the state Supreme Court decided to take up the case before it was heard by the appeals court.

In the first round, the State Education Assistance Authority — a university-based agency assigned by the legislature to administer the vouchers — awarded financial assistance to 1,216 students who attended 224 private schools across North Carolina in the 2014-15 school year. The agency used a lottery to choose recipients, who received vouchers of up to $4,200.

The charts accompanying this article come from the assistance authority’s data, offering an early assessment of where and to whom vouchers have gone. Together, African-American and biracial students account for more than half of voucher recipients. Similarly, more than half are elementary school students. Also, more than half of vouchers have gone to students in five counties – Wake, Mecklenburg, Cumberland, Guilford and Forsyth.

The vast majority of private schools with voucher-assisted students had fewer than 10. The top three were: Greensboro Islamic Academy, with 67 voucher students in a K-5 school with an enrollment of 130; Word of God Academy in Raleigh, with 47 voucher students among its 200 students in K through 12; and Victory Christian Center School in Charlotte, with 37 vouchers students among its 300 K-12 enrollment.

Clearly, Republican budget-writers intend to expand the system, both by increasing the funds appropriated and making more students eligible by lifting the current financial eligibility lid. For now, GOP legislative leaders have the votes to expand vouchers. 

Yes, the legislature mandated that private schools with voucher-assisted students give a standardized test — but it didn’t specify which test. Nor did the legislature require that schools with voucher-assisted students hire teachers with the qualifications required in public schools.

In effect, the legislature has set up a new program of government spending without providing for ways to determine whether it works in closing achievement gaps and advancing educational excellence in North Carolina.

In the long run, even private schools that enroll students with vouchers may regret their acceptance of public funding. As the political winds shift, vouchers could be abolished, or scaled back, or regulations, now especially loose, will tighten and tighten, as authorities seek more accountability and transparency.

Given the implications for our state, our constitution, public schools, private schools, and students, the Supreme Court ought to take the time it needs to struggle with this weighty decision.

Voucher recipients by ethnicity, 2014-15

Voucher recipients by gender, 2014-15

Voucher recipients by grade level, 2014-15

Voucher recipients by nonpublic school, 2014-15

Voucher recipients by county, 2014-15

Ferrel Guillory

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Ferrel Guillory is a founder and serves on the board of directors of EducationNC.