Wake County Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood had ruled the program unconstitutional.
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In his majority opinion, Martin wrote that, according to the most recent figures published by the Department of Public Instruction, a large percentage of economically disadvantaged students in North Carolina are not grade-level proficient in the subjects tested on the state’s end-of-year exams.
“Our constitutionally assigned role is limited to a determination of whether the legislation is plainly and clearly prohibited by the constitution”, Martin wrote. “Because no prohibition in the constitution or in our precedent forecloses the General Assembly’s enactment of the challenged legislation here, the trial court’s order declaring the legislation unconstitutional is reversed”.
In her dissent, Associate Justice Robin Hudson said that the Opportunity Scholarship program does not meet the requirement that taxpayer funds be used for only public purposes.
Supporters of the program note that nearly three-quarters of the students who received scholarships were minorities. A representative for both declined to comment on Thursday. “We are thrilled for the many low-income students now on the program and the many more who need this option in the future”.
But Rodney Ellis, president of the N.C. Association of Educators, said the state Constitution is clear about the use of public money for public education.
– The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Thursday that the state’s voucher program that gives taxpayer support for low-income students to attend private schools is constitutional.
“We join the thousands of families across the state who are celebrating today because the court has given them the legal right to exercise educational choice”, Allison said.
“I need a dictionary to define all the words I feel right now: elated, happy, relieved”, Kintaudi said.
Those who applied after the March 2015 deadline will be put on a waitlist for the upcoming school year. Kintaudi plans to send her youngest daughter to Raleigh Christian Academy this fall after the good experience she said her three oldest children had there a year ago.
The other two include a 6-year-old soon-to-be first-grader and a 13-year-old middle-schooler.
Nick Fasciano, the assistant principal of a private school in Richlands, echoed that sentiment. State lawmakers want to provide $17.6 million in vouchers for the coming school year and to expand the program’s income-eligibility guidelines. That meant the State Education Assistance Authority, which administers the program, could accept and screen scholarship applications and hold a lottery determining which students would receive the money if the court signs off and lawmakers follow through with funding.
“The battle to save the Opportunity Scholarship Program was hard-fought for over a year”, said IJ Attorney Renée Flaherty said. She said the average award is expected to be about $4,000 for the 2015-16 school year.
But others applauded the decision.
“Two-hundred and twenty-four schools worked with parents to allow students to attend the school of their choice while awaiting today’s court decision”. We will win this fight for our children.’ Today, their tenacious aspirations for their children’s future were validated by the state’s highest Court. To the contrary, this Program will be just one small piece of the comprehensive K-12 puzzle that will be utilized to complement our state’s public education system, not compete against it. Regardless of what school model a parent chooses, we must never forget that we are in this together and are fighting for the same thing: an education that rightly serves every child in North Carolina regardless of their geographic location or income status.
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Opponents say that the program takes money from public schools and allows public funds to go to schools that may teach based on a religious curriculum.
