North Carolina Lawmakers DEFY the Democratic Governor and Override His Veto on Funding School Vouchers

The will of the people of North Carolina prevails.

Lawmakers created the Opportunity Scholarship program to give families with children stuck in failing government schools the chance to use taxpayers’ funds — their funds — to choose better schools. The program is so popular that a huge waitlist grew.

The North Carolina legislature, which holds a Republican supermajority, wanted to provide more funding to clear the waitlist. Legislators sent a bill to Governor Roy Cooper, who opposes school choice. He predictably vetoed the bill. But lawmakers had the votes to override him. That’s exactly what they did this week.

Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina announced that lawmakers have voted to provide an additional $463.5 million for the Opportunity Scholarship program.

“While Governor Roy Cooper and Governor-elect Josh Stein continue to discount the idea that parents should be empowered to enroll their child in the learning environment that fits their needs, we believe the opposite,” said Mike Long, president of Parents for Educational Freedom. “Students’ needs should be the focus of North Carolina’s education policy, with funding following those students.”

Funding following students — that is the goal. Taxpayers shouldn’t be funding systems that don’t work or teachers unions, which oppose school choice for families in distressed zip codes.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved

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