NC public schools lost money due to vouchers. How lawmakers are responding
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- Lawmakers proposed $35.8 million reinvestment.
- Budget allocates $17M bonuses, $13.8M literacy PD, $10M math curriculum.
- Opportunity Scholarship enrollment grew from 32,549 to 106,863 students by June 2026.
State lawmakers plan to replace some of the money that public schools have lost because of students leaving them to use taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
The new proposed state budget released Tuesday includes a $35.8 million “public school reinvestment from Opportunity Scholarship savings.” The reinvestment comes after public schools have lost thousands of students — and the funding that comes with them — in the past two years due to the state’s expansion of the voucher program.
“The $35.8 million in savings is reinvested in public schools through the funding of mathematics curriculum, literacy professional development, and bonuses for school nutrition and custodial staff,” House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger said in a press release Tuesday.
Opponents of the voucher school expansion have argued though that all the money should have stayed in the public schools. One of the themes at the May 1 mass teacher march in downtown Raleigh was to end the Opportunity Scholarship program.
The Republican-controlled state legislature plans to approve the budget this week to send to the desk of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein
Expansion of voucher program
Starting in the 2024-25 school year, lawmakers significantly expanded the Opportunity Scholarship program by increasing funding and opening eligibility to all families. The voucher program has tripled in size from 32,549 students in the 2023-24 school year to 106,863 students as of June 2026.
Most of the expansion has come from existing private school families applying for a voucher for the first time. Many private schools encouraged or in some cases required families to apply for an Opportunity Scholarship.
The voucher expansion has allowed some private schools to raise tuition, reduce the amount they spend on financial assistance and embark on expansion programs.
The voucher program has expanded so much that Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek is auditing the Opportunity Scholarship program.
Public schools losing students to voucher program
As part of the expansion, lawmakers said they planned to reinvest in public schools any savings in state funds caused from families leaving public schools by using the Opportunity Scholarship program.
A report presented in May by the state Department of Public Instruction shows 12,252 Opportunity Scholarship students had left the public schools in the past two years.
Over the past two school years, DPI says students who left public schools received $106 million in voucher funds. If they had stayed, public schools would have gotten $141.8 million.
Under the newly released state budget proposal, the “savings” will go toward:
- $17 million for a one-time $1,750 bonus for school cafeteria staff and school custodians.
- $13.8 million for middle school literacy professional development
- $10 million for the purchase of a new math curriculum.
The amount totals $40.8 million, although lawmakers cited the $35.8 million figure in the budget and a news release.
The budget says it is the legislature’s plan to continue to reinvest into public schools any savings from voucher students transferring from public to private schools.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 1:01 PM with the headline "NC public schools lost money due to vouchers. How lawmakers are responding."
