7 of NC’s top voucher recipients are private schools that discriminate

Editors note: This opinion piece was first published by The Charlotte Observer, May 11, 2023

North Carolina Republicans have made it clear they intend to radically expand the state’s school voucher program, funneling more taxpayer dollars into private schools.

A bill sponsored by all 103 House and Senate Republicans would expand the Opportunity Scholarship program so that any household could receive a voucher for private school tuition, regardless of income level. If it passes — and it likely will — North Carolina would be spending more than half a billion dollars per year on private school vouchers by 2032.

But unlike public schools, private schools aren’t required to accept all students — and some don’t. North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program gives millions of dollars in public money to private schools with dubious beliefs and discriminatory policies.

GRACE Christian School in Sanford was the top recipient of voucher funds in the 2022-23 school year. The school received about $2.2 million dollars in public funds through the program.

But GRACE Christian also requires students, parents and employees to abide by a “Statement of Faith,” which unequivocally condemns same-sex marriage, homosexuality and the “rejection of one’s biological sex.”

Berean Baptist Academy in Fayetteville received $1.7 million in voucher funds this school year. The school’s policy handbook establishes marriage as solely between one man and one woman, and states that “our beliefs regarding human sexuality and marriage shall apply in all policies and programs and can factor in admission decisions and continued enrollment in the academy.” The Fayetteville Observer reported in 2020 that Berean refused to accept two students because their parents were gay.

Fayetteville Christian School, which received $1.3 million this school year, says it will not admit families that “engage in behaviors that Scripture defines as deviate and sin.” A copy of its handbook also states that having an abortion is grounds for expulsion.

Liberty Christian Academy’s policies include a similar statement on “biblical morality,” which allows it to refuse admission to or disenroll any student or family whose behavior is “counter to or in opposition to the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.” Liberty Christian benefitted from $1.5 million in voucher funds this school year.

Freedom Christian Academy in Fayetteville says a student’s “privilege of membership” can be terminated if they “express a gender other than his or her sex.” It pocketed $1.2 million in voucher funds.

 Northwood Temple Academy, also in Fayetteville, also received over a million dollars in voucher funds this school year. It lists “physical intimacy, pregnancy, abortion, homosexuality/bisexuality/transgenderism” as serious offenses that may result in immediate expulsion.

The same is true of dozens of other schools that receive public funds through the Opportunity Scholarship program. Currently, more than 25,000 students receive vouchers under the program, and about 90% of those students attend religious schools, according to data analyzed by WUNC. Many of those schools have anti-LGBTQ policies or teach using a curriculum guided by religious ideology.

To be clear, private schools are allowed to discriminate. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, but religious private schools can claim exemptions to Title IX “to the extent that application of Title IX would be inconsistent with the religious tenets of the organization.”

Various lawsuits have been filed challenging the constitutionality of the Opportunity Scholarship program because it funds schools that discriminate on the basis of religion and sexual orientation. Those lawsuits have not been successful, but North Carolina shouldn’t be funding discrimination with public dollars in the first place.

It’s not just about discrimination, either. A 2020 report from Duke Law School’s Children’s Law Clinic found that three-quarters of religious schools receiving voucher funds teach a biblically-based curriculum with concepts that directly contradict the state’s educational standards. There are hardly any accountability measures in place for schools that receive voucher funds — they don’t even have to be accredited.

Private schools can teach and admit whatever and whoever they want, but their efforts shouldn’t be subsidized by public money. Republican lawmakers claim that by expanding North Carolina’s school voucher program, they’re giving every family a “choice.”

Unfortunately, sometimes the schools they choose don’t choose them back.