By Shawnice Meador
Public Ed Works

RALEIGH (March 19, 2026) – When they return to session next month, North Carolina legislators will once again grapple with the state budget, a process that often leaves critical services – like our K-12 public schools – in a state of financial limbo.

Yet, amid the political back-and-forth and the uncertainty over the 2025 budget (and it’s already 2026), one program’s future is not just secure, it’s surging: the state’s voucher program that sends taxpayer dollars to families whose children were already attending private schools.

Voucher funding for the 2026-27 school year is already written into law.

The General Assembly has already appropriated a staggering $675 million for vouchers in the 2026-27 fiscal year. This is not a wish or a proposal; it is an automatic, built-in funding. In fact, this amount represents a $50 million increase from the $625 million designated for 2025-26, continuing a pattern of exponential growth.

How is this guaranteed while a new state budget stalls? The voucher program is governed by a 15-year statutory schedule that automatically increases its funding annually unless the General Assembly passes new legislation to amend it.

For families applying for 2026-27 awards – applications that opened in February and for which awards will be announced in April – the bottom line is stability and a massive infusion of public dollars into private schools.

Compare this guaranteed, year-over-year increase for private school vouchers with the perennial struggle to adequately fund our public schools – the schools educating the vast majority of North Carolina’s children (84% in 2024-25).

Class sizes are ballooning, support staff positions remain unfilled, and competitive teacher pay is a constant battle, all while millions are locked in on autopilot for a program critics say defunds the state’s constitutional obligation to public education.

This financial paradox is a direct result of legislative priorities that elevate a voucher program above the comprehensive needs of neighborhood public schools.

Call to Action

Speak up and contact your state legislators today. Ask them to address this funding disparity.

Tell them that while a massive, automatically increasing investment in vouchers that funnel tax dollars to private schools is guaranteed, the constitutional mandate to provide a sound basic education for every child in our public schools remains critically underfunded.

Urge them to amend the automatic appropriation schedule for vouchers and redirect those funds to the public schools that need them most.

Find your legislator and their contact information on the North Carolina General Assembly website. The future of public education depends on how we allocate our resources now.

Shawnice Meador is the President and Executive Director of Public Ed Works. She wrote this post with assistance from artificial intelligence.