Raleigh, NC – Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) released the following statement marking the fifth anniversary of North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program becoming law in the state on July 26, 2013.
“Five years ago, North Carolina lawmakers empowered families with educational choice when creating the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Since that historic moment, families have responded by submitting more than 45,000 applications and today more than 500 applicants remain on a wait list. Like no other time in our state’s history, the playing field is being leveled for low-income and working-class families who—if not for this program—may not have access to the school of their choice,” said Brian Jodice, Interim President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.
Established in 2013, the Opportunity Scholarship Program is the largest state-sponsored private school choice scholarship in North Carolina. Since its inception, families have submitted more than 45,000 applications and scholarships have been offered to over 31,000 students in our state. This coming school year (2018-2019) will see a record number of Opportunity Scholarships with an estimated 10,700 scholarships available. The North Carolina General Assembly has worked to ensure certainty for families by forward-funding the Program and providing critically important scholarships for 36,000 families within the next 10 years, as well.
“I hope our legislative leaders are paying attention to the record number of new applicants (10,829) that were submitted for this coming school year. There is no doubt that families across our state have responded to this Program and the demand speaks for itself. It’s been a long five years, including a major milestone three years ago when the Program was deemed constitutional; a major win for families in our state. We remain encouraged by the strength and incredible growth of the Program and we look forward to more North Carolina families having access to an Opportunity Scholarship in the future,” added Jodice.
PEFNC is celebrating the occasion by releasing a special video that shares the story of a family from Charlotte who has been on their own journey. Watch the story here as Janet Nunn shares, “Nariah went from reading below first grade level to being a straight-A student. None of this is possible without the Opportunity Scholarship.”
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