I am exceedingly concerned about the national trend toward school vouchers. While the playing field appears to be leveled, it is actually subsidizing students already enrolled in expensive private schools, while draining the funding of public schools. Public education wasn’t an American right until 1918. The end result will further dismantle public education, where learning is already under attack.
Your article [“Public Money for Private Schools: N.C. Legislature Prioritizes Private Education,” Aug. 9, summarized in Xpress’ newsletter] lays it on the table:
“The bill, which is essentially veto-proof, would remove the income eligibility cap for the private school voucher program, aka Opportunity Scholarships, plus allow students already enrolled in private schools to apply for the program.
“Since the state funds schools based on attendance, if students migrate to private schools using vouchers, the corresponding public districts lose funding.
“Buncombe County’s two public school districts could be out a combined $5.6 million in fiscal year 2026-27 if the bill passes.”
— Peggy Crowe
Asheville
Just think if groups like the NEA and NCAE didn’t exist to screw everything up…they are a doubly EVIL force against education. They have turned teachers into unsavory ‘educators’ with a power grab attitude. Hopefully the non Constitutional federal ‘Dept of Education’ will be dismantled soon.
If Crowe actually carried about our public schools, she’d advocate merging the city and county systems. The waste in redundant personnel and other overhead is enormous.