School choice is good for students and parents, and I have long supported magnet and accountable charter schools because public schools open doors of opportunity for kids in every county of the state. Congress and the Administration should strengthen our public schools, not hollow them out. Cutting public education funding by billions of dollars while providing billions in tax giveaways to wealthy parents already sending their kids to private schools is the wrong choice.
However, I see opportunities for the federal scholarship donation tax credit program to benefit North Carolina’s public school kids. Once the federal government issues sound guidance, I intend to opt North Carolina in so we can invest in the public school students most in need of after school programs, tutoring, and other resources.
Those are the words of Gov. Josh Stein as he vetoed legislation (HB 87) that would allow North Carolina to become the first state to opt in to the new federal tax credit scholarship program.
Full disclosure: I am a long-time supporter of school choice, but like many others, I have concerns (see some of them here) about the wisdom of using the federal tax code to advance school choice. I’m not taking issue with Stein’s opposition to HB 87. I’m taking issue with his reasons for vetoing the bill.
First, both Stein and I agree that school choice is good for students and parents. But that’s where the similarity ends.
How the governor defines choice puts him in a rather small camp. Stein believes that choice should be limited to families who have students in the public schools. Parents of public-school students should be able to choose from traditional public schools, charter schools, and magnet schools, he says.
There are plenty of good public schools, but what if a child’s only option is to attend one of North Carolina’s 799 schools that received a D or F grade on the 2024 school report card? Or what if a parent feels the local public school isn’t a good fit for their child?
According to the governor, public schools should have choice “because public schools open doors of opportunity for kids in every county of the state.” Does that mean the governor believes private schools do not open doors of opportunity for kids in every county in the state?
Don’t private schools also open doors of opportunity? Did the governor not think his time at Dartmouth and Harvard would open “doors of opportunity” for him?
The governor’s idea of choice reminds me of the old quote often attributed to Henry Ford regarding a customer’s choice of color for his new Model T. Ford is purported to have said, “You can have any color you want, as long as it’s black.”
The governor’s views on the issue of school choice are significantly out of line with public sentiment. A January 2025 Carolina Journal Poll found that when asked who is best suited to determine where a child should attend school, 72 percent of respondents said “the child’s parents or guardians.” The John Locke Foundation has been polling on that question for years. The response (parents and guardians) has always been the same. Percentages have ranged from the high sixties to the low eighties.
Worse than the governor’s feigned support for school choice is his charge that these policies have led to a hollowing out of the public schools. Let’s look at the numbers.
In 2013–14, support per student in North Carolina public schools was $8,477. In 2019–20, the number climbed to $9,951. In 2023–24, it was $13,222. Moreover, from 2000 to 2024, North Carolina public schools received an additional $6.2 billion — yes, I said billion — in federal funding to address pandemic-related issues. Funding for K–12 public schools has increased for 14 straight years, growing from $7.15 billion in 2011 to $11.86 billion in 2025, all at a time when the number of students in traditional public schools has been on the decline for the past decade. Anyone who thinks the public schools are being hollowed out is simply misinformed.
In the last paragraph of his veto statement, Gov. Stein says he will opt North Carolina in to the federal tax credit scholarship program when he sees how the program can benefit public school kids. Gov. Stein should be held to his word. I am sure there are more than a few individuals who would be happy to show the governor the many ways the program can provide students with a better education.
Gov. Stein’s veto of the federal tax credit scholarship program is petty and small-minded. His thinking reflects a narrow, minority viewpoint on school choice. It also helps explain why school choice has been a losing issue for Democrats in North Carolina and nationally.
The governor has every right to defend his position on his veto. I only wish he could do so in a manner that is convincing and compelling. The people of North Carolina deserve no less.
