Read More]]> On Tuesday, the House Education Committee heard responses from the public regarding HB 944, the Opportunity Scholarship Act, which would provide scholarships to help cover the costs of attending a private school for low-income families.

New provisions have been made to the bill, including one that requires families to be within 100% Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL), which amounts to about $43,000 for a family of four, to receive scholarships in the 2013-2014 school year. However, in the second year, the eligibility level rises to 133% FRL, which amounts to about $58,000 for a family of four.

Students meeting the eligibility level of 100% FRL in 2013-2014 would be eligible to receive up to the full amount of $4,200. For families above 100% FRL, the amount would be up to 90% of tuition, not to exceed $4,200. $10 million would be appropriated in 2013-2014, and appropriations would rise to $40 million in 2014-2015.

After the four sponsors of the bill discussed how it would help meet the specific needs of all students, regardless of economic status, members of the public expressed their own arguments for and against the bill.

Some opponents expressed concern that the scholarships would take money from public schools. However, proponents explained the success of these programs in other states and that scholarship programs have proven to help not only scholarship students but also their public school peers.

Because of time constraints, the Committee was not able to debate or vote on the bill. The committee will meet again next week to continue discussion and likely take a vote.

Read More]]> One of PEFNC’s  college interns attended the press conference held this week to discuss the Opportunity Scholarship Act. It’s always great to hear from a student’s perspective, so read her account below!

On May 20, school leaders, parents, clergy, and state lawmakers came together in their efforts to aid low-income students at a press conference at the General Assembly in support of HB 944, the Opportunity Scholarship Act. The bill would provide scholarships to students from low-income families to help them attend private schools. These speakers emphasized the importance of meeting the needs of all students, regardless of their finances and that it is essential to provide all parents with quality educational options for their children.

PEFNC President Darrell Allison began the press conference by stating that we must act on behalf of working-class families who are out of quality options regarding their child’s education. The Opportunity Scholarship Act would not undermine the quality of public schools or create tension between public and private schools. Instead, it would help ensure that the needs of low-income students are met so that they can have the same opportunities as other students.

Representative Marcus Brandon (D-Guilford) discussed his duty to represent constituents rather than entities. In his district of Guilford County, 60% of public school students are not reading at grade level and he feels the need to support his constituents by providing all students with a quality education. The core issue of educational inequity lies in how a student’s zip code can dictate his or her education, he said, and no one should stand for that.

Charlotte principal Michael Pratt also expressed his support for the Opportunity Scholarship Act and challenged the common assumption that private schools can only serve the upper class. In reality, the majority of North Carolina’s private schools would be made affordable to working-class families because of these scholarships.

Bishop Phillip Davis then demonstrated his long-term commitment to acting on behalf of low-income families because “it’s the right thing to do.” He explained how we have a duty to our children to open more doors of opportunity so they can prosper. “It’s one thing to preach about a problem; it’s another thing to fix it.”

The press conference was concluded by Cynthia Perry, the mother of a seven-year old named Amiyah, a beautiful girl who was adopted as a foster child. She is now a student at a traditional public school and continues to struggle with reading comprehension. Cynthia believes that Amiyah would do much better in an environment that supports her specific needs, along with smaller classes and more one-on-one interaction. However, because of the current lack of an opportunity scholarship, Amiyah cannot enroll in a private school and her mother says her reading comprehension and grades continue to suffer. Cynthia demonstrated her enduring commitment to her daughter’s education stating, “I won’t give up on giving her the education that she needs and deserves.” It was touching to see such a strong parent who genuinely wants to do the absolute best that she can for her child, and the other listeners seemed to be just as moved by her emotional account.

This press conference provided the perfect opportunity for speakers of different backgrounds to come together and explain to the public what the Opportunity Scholarship Act could accomplish for low-income families. As Representative Ed Hanes expressed, education of all students is one of the civil rights issues of our time and we, as citizens of North Carolina, have a duty to provide all children with a quality education, regardless of their zip codes.

Read More]]> School leaders, parents, clergy and state lawmakers stood united today in their efforts to aid low-income children in accessing educational opportunities that could help them learn and grow while implementing safeguards to further ensure accountability and transparency.

North Carolina House Reps. Rob Bryan (R-Mecklenburg), Marcus Brandon (D-Guilford), Brian Brown, (R-Pitt) and Ed Hanes (D-Forsyth) unveiled changes to the Opportunity Scholarship Act (House Bill 944) during a press conference at the General Assembly this afternoon. The bill provides grants of up to $4,200 to low-income and working class families to send their child to a school of their choice. The bill is expected to be heard in the House Education Committee on Tuesday.

The measure’s primary sponsors were also joined by Senators Ben Clark (D – Cumberland) and Malcolm Graham (D – Mecklenburg) who both spoke on the need to provide quality educational options to poor children across the state.

“The quality of your education should not be based on your zip code,” Sen. Graham said. “It should not be based on who your mother is or who your father is. It should not be based on your income level. It should be based on the ability for that child to learn and achieve. What I’m here standing for is access to a quality education, quality schools and giving poor children in North Carolina an opportunity.”

With hundreds of thousands of students failing state tests every year, opportunity scholarships are a potential answer to help students obtain the type of education they need, said Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.

“The Opportunity Scholarship Act should not be viewed as an effort to compete with our public schools,” Allison said. “We are here today to declare that Opportunity Scholarships are designed to complement our public education system to help reach our state’s most underserved students and allow them to attend schools that could meet their educational needs.”

The improved legislation has a series of affordability, accountability, transparency and testing safeguards to ensure parents have choice, students learn and resources are spent wisely, including:

• Tightening the income guidelines to include students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, ensuring only families who need it the most receive scholarships

• Private schools with more than 25 scholarship students will be required to report their aggregate test scores to the public

• Schools are also accountable to parents by providing them a written explanation of their child’s academic progress every year, including scores on standardized achievement tests

“One of my frustrations has been the lack of different options for families, which is most prevalent for low-income and working-class families,” said Rep. Bryan, a former public school teacher. “We want to ensure that this measure is one that will help the students who need it most.”

Rep. Brandon’s support for the measure comes from his desire to help children in his own district, which he says has the poorest zip code among North Carolina’s 10 largest cities.

“When talking with parents in my district, the number one problem I heard over and over again was that their school was not meeting their children’s needs, yet no one was doing anything about it,” he said. “Talking with these parents, it was clear that they did not have any other educational options available.”

Rep. Bryan’s teaching experiences and Rep. Brandon’s personal conversations with parents were recently highlighted in videos about their support for opportunity scholarships. View Rep. Bryan’s video here and Rep. Brandon’s video here.

The additional provisions come on top of a number of accountability measures already in House Bill 944:

• An annual report to legislators on how scholarship students are performing compared to their public school peers

• An audit will be conducted at a designated financial threshold to ensure schools are properly utilizing scholarship funds

• Schools cannot charge additional costs to scholarship students that wouldn’t be charged to non-scholarship students

“I’ve worked and pushed to ensure there is accountability in this measure,” Rep. Hanes said. “I personally met with public school officials across the state and I believe this updated bill reflects some of their suggestions to ensure that we don’t handcuff our nonpublic schools, but also make this program accountable to taxpayers and families.”

The proposed changes, along with the current provisions in the bill, reflect a measure aimed at helping underserved students receive the academic resources they need, Rep. Brown commented.

“House Bill 944 is about doing right by our low-income and working-class students who continue to struggle in school,” he said. “It’s not about one type of school being better than the other, but finding the best educational environment for that child.”

Read More]]> Coral Jeffries, headmaster of New City Christian School in Asheville, NC has published a Letter to the Editor in the Asheville Citizen Times. She says HB 944, the Opportunity Scholarship Act, is an accountable and transparent measure that could help low-income children succeed.

“In my involvement with New City Christian School, a private school serving urban students, I have witnessed how small class size and individualized attention promotes academic progress — especially for low-income children.
These crucial benefits would be available to more students if House Bill 944 (Opportunity Scholarship Act) is passed. There are many capable public schools, but not every school can effectively teach every child.
Some have claimed that this bill will hurt our public schools, but this is not the case. House Bill 944 is targeted for our most underserved students who need schools that can work with them individually.
The bill guarantees that schools like New City are held accountable through audits ensuring only qualified families obtain scholarships. Lawmakers will receive reports monitoring the academic progress of scholarship students and their public school classmates. I’ve also heard that private education would be unaffordable for these families even with a scholarship.
Recently, a statewide tuition survey found that a $4,200 scholarship would make private school affordable for many low-income families. House Bill 944 is needed because our working-class children cannot afford to wait another day to access a school that best meets their needs.”
Coral Jeffries, Asheville

Read it online here.