North Carolina's School Vouchers Can Now Be Used

Public tax dollars can fund Opportunity Scholarships, says North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Friday, the state court of appeals allowed the disbursement of about $10 million to fund North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program.  These vouchers uses tax payer money, so low-income students can attend private schools.

Opponents have widely criticized this program as being unconstitutional because it uses public taxes. They also say it is taking money away from the state's public school system, which is already struggling with deep funding cuts. But Darrell Allison says this is not the case. He is president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. He says state legislators already took steps to make sure the opportunity scholarships would not hurt public schools.

"This last legislative session, the state general assembly allotted an additional $11 million given to the public school system," explains Allison. "So you can't say as a result of a student leaving a public school that's failing them, that we are taking money away from the public school system," he says.

Nearly 2,000 public school students have already been approved for vouchers this academic year. Scholarships range in value up to $4,200. Allison says over the next few days, the private school's they're attending will receive the funding.