Senator Daniel Votes to Expand Opportunity Scholarships

Raleigh, N.C. – This week, Sen. Daniel (R-Burke County) voted to support legislation to expand North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship program. The initiative, created in 2013, provides grants to lower-income families to send their children to private schools if they so choose. All but one of the Democrats opposed the bill.

Sen. Daniel said, "Sending your child to the school that best fits their specific educational needs shouldn’t be a privilege reserved only for the wealthy. All children, regardless of their home circumstances, deserve the opportunity to succeed. It’s unfortunate that the same activists who supported school closures and claim to care about ‘equity’ oppose letting lower-income families send their kids to private schools.”

The measure, Senate Bill 671, is sponsored by Sens. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover) and Deanna Ballard (R-Watauga), who co-chair the Senate Education Committee. It increases the income threshold to qualify for Opportunity Scholarships to 175% of the federal reduced-price lunch level. The bill also increases the scholarship award amount from the current maximum of $4,200 annually to about $5,900 annually.

The application window for Opportunity Scholarships is currently open. Families interested in applying for the grant can do so at www.ncseaa.edu/k12/opportunity/.

A recent statewide survey found that 71% of registered voters support the Opportunity Scholarship program, and 61% support increasing the scholarship amount.

Despite its popularity, Gov. Roy Cooper has continually tried to defund the program that provides scholarships to low- and middle-income families.

Many prominent Democrats who oppose giving lower-income families the opportunity to attend private school in fact sent their own children to private school.

The bill also merges the Special Education Scholarships for Students with Disabilities and Personal Education Savings Accounts into the Personal Education Student Accounts for Children with Disabilities.

Senator Daniel Votes to Expand Opportunity Scholarships