School voucher scam

For all the news sources in North Carolina, no one has done more to expose the school-voucher scam than a seventh-grade English teacher in Charlotte, Justin Parmenter.

To see how vouchers misuse tax dollars and hurt public schools, follow him on Facebook, Twitter @JustinParmenter and his website, Notes from the Chalkboard.

He found that the state’s top voucher recipient – Grace Christian in Sanford, which got almost $2.5 million – boasts that its educational objective isn’t academic, it’s “to lead the student to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.”

He reported that Fayetteville Christian School, which got $1.3 million in tax dollars, says in its Admission Requirements:

“The student and at least one parent with whom the student resides must be in full agreement with the FCS Statement of Faith and have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. In addition, the parent and student must regularly fellowship in a local faith based, Bible believing church.”

The school “will not admit families that belong to or express faith in non-Christian religions such as, but not limited to, Mormons (LDS Church), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslim (Islam), non-Messianic Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.”

Students and parents cannot engage in “behaviors that Scripture defines as deviate (sic) and perverted,” such as “sexual promiscuity” or “homosexuality (LGBT).”

These are typical examples of private religious schools getting public tax dollars – $133.9 million this year and more than $400 million since 2014.

The budget passed last week double spending on vouchers, to $263.5 million. Next year, it would be $354.5 million. It would top $400 million the year after that and rise above $500 million by the end of the decade.

WRAL reported: “That would pull more tens of thousands more students out of public school, eventually drawing more than $200 million out of public schools during the 2026-27 school year.”

The money spent on vouchers this year could have doubled the pay raises for public school teachers.

Parmenter knows how this hurts public schools. He has taught in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools since 2002.

He’s been a teacher for 29 years, starting as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Albania in the ‘90s shortly after the fall of communism. He taught in Istanbul and on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona.

He has a job, a family and a life. But he says:

“I believe it’s very important for the public to be informed about what’s happening to education and that the most accurate information comes from people who have a front-line view of how policy impacts students’ lives.

He has shown that the private schools don’t have to give the same tests and meet the same standards as public schools. They can hire teachers who aren’t certified to teach.

They can discriminate against children with special needs.

They can, Parmenter writes, “expel voucher students for absurd reasons and keep the state’s money…. Public schools accept all students, honor them for who they are and do our best to support their learning with the resources that we have.”

Vouchers are robbing public schools of the resources they need to teach the vast majority of North Carolina’s children.

Republicans say public schools are failing.

No. They’re failing the schools – and the taxpayers.