Justices allow vouchers to proceed
Published May 15, 2014
by Barry Smith, Carolina Journal, May 14, 2014.
The N.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted a lower court’s order that had blocked implementation of the state’s new voucher law helping children from lower-income families to attend private schools.
The ruling means that the N.C. Educational Assistance Authority can move ahead with a lottery to see which children will be awarded the vouchers, called Opportunity Scholarships, for the academic year beginning this fall, according to attorneys involved in the case. The order will be in effect until the appeals process concludes, or until Judge Robert Hobgood, who issued the initial injunction, issues a final judgment on the merits of the case at the trial level.
Last year, the General Assembly enacted a law allowing vouchers to provide up to $4,200 in scholarships for children from lower-income families to offset the cost of attending private schools. The law limited the scholarships to 2,400 students in its first year. Since about 4,500 students applied, a lottery would be needed to determine which students would actually be awarded the scholarships.
Hobgood issued his preliminary injunction blocking the program in February. The N.C. Court of Appeals refused to overturn Hobgood’s order, setting the stage for Wednesday’s Supreme Court action.
The Institute for Justice, the libertarian public-interest law firm representing two parents who have pushed to overturn Hobgood’s order, reacted positively to the Supreme Court’s decision.
“In lifting the injunction, the N.C. Supreme Court has lifted a cloud over the program, and given hope to the thousands of families who have already applied for a scholarship,” said Dick Komer, senior attorney for the institute. “Although today’s decision isn’t the final word on the program, it bodes well for full vindication at the state’s highest court. More importantly, it bodes well for the families whose only wish is to find the best education for their children.”
Renee Flaherty, another Institute for Justice attorney working on the case, added, “The N.C. Supreme Court has sent the Court of Appeals a strong and unmistakable signal: This program should be allowed to go on.”
Flaherty said Hobgood misread the text of the N.C. Constitution when he issued the injunction. Flaherty said it “in no way prohibits the creation of innovative programs, such as the Opportunity Scholarship Program, that give our poorest families additional educational options.”
The N.C. School Boards Association, one of the plaintiffs seeking to block implementation of the voucher program, did not agree with the justices' reasoning.
“We are disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision, said Edwin Dunlap Jr., executive director of the school boards association. “The prudent thing would have been to answer these important constitutional questions before the state started spending public money on private schools.”
Darrell Allison, president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, lauded the ruling.
“Today’s historic decision vindicates the over 4,500 parents who applied for their child to receive and Opportunity Scholarship and puts parents back in the driver’s seat and their child’s education,” Allison said. “Additionally, this ruling provides immediate relief to low-income and working-class families who applied for this program from across the state and also demonstrates parents [who joined the lawsuit] have a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits.”
Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, added his support.
“The Supreme Court made the right decision today, and I am pleased that thousands of low-income children across North Carolina will have the opportunity to attend a school that best meets their needs in the coming year,” Berger said.
http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=11070
May 15, 2014 at 10:33 am
Norm Kellly says:
Curious. On what grounds does the education establishment desire to prevent parents from choosing the school that best meets their child's educational needs? On what grounds does big education fear competition? For what reason would lib politicians and school board members want to trap ANY child in a school that is not meeting their needs?
Just for the fun of it, let's assume that Common Core is the pile of crap that so many believe it to be. It's permeating ALL the public schools. But it's so convoluted, so outrageous in it's approach, that it makes it difficult for children to grasp the processes, makes it difficult for parents to be able to help their kids, and stifles the desire to learn on even the most intelligent/gifted kids. So somewhere along the line a parent gets tired of the frustration of the child and decides they prefer to send their child(ren) to a school that meets the kids need and not necessarily the states' needs. A school that actually teaches kids and teaches kids how to learn is available but it's outside the public school system. The parents can't afford tuition to the private school even though it provides the best education, and the most meaningful education, to those specific kids.
What happens? The child is frustrated. The parents are frustrated. The child is FORCED to stay in the school that's not meeting it's obligation. But the school board, the school administration, and the teachers union are all happy. The lib politicians are happy. The child is trapped in a school that doesn't meet the family needs, yet the big education system is forcing the family to suffer, the child to suffer, and one more kid with a sub-par education is puked out into the world.
How is this good for anyone? Besides the education establishment. Nobody should care about the education establishment. In this case, big education is the enemy of education. If the state, local, fed governments spend about $12,000 per student (in Wake), and the scholarship is for only $4,200, where does the other $7,600 go? You see, this is the concern of big education. It appears the opposition to school choice isn't the kids at all; it's the money that the education establishment might be out.
Libs refer to businesses as 'big oil', 'big tobacco', 'monopolies' of all sorts like IBM and Microsoft, but how do they refer to big education? Do they say 'the education establishment'? Do they say 'big education'? Do they call the education establishment a 'monopoly'? No to all of these. Because lib establishments are good; private sector establishments are bad. It ALL comes back to government versus private sector. Libs ALWAYS claim private sector is bad, public sector is good. Public sector employment drops, libs stop sleeping at night. Private sector employment goes down, libs come up with government make-work projects - also known as more public sector employment/spending. No matter what, whether talking about big education or any other aspect of government, it's good, to be supported, to be expanded, never to be questioned. Because government is inherently good. Just ask you neighborhood lib.
Follow the money. You'll quickly understand why big education opposes parental choice. You'll wonder why the education establishment opposes allowing children to attend the school that best meets THEIR educational needs. But this will be the beginning of opening your eyes. And the more people with their eyes open, the more likely our government will start working FOR us again.
