Opportunity Scholarships. The future of Western NC | Hour 3

What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all of the links, become a patron, go to dpeakclendarshow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. So with the state budget done and the ink dry, opportunity scholarships are safe again, more and more North Carolina families are turning to the voucher program to help cover private school tuition if their local school just isn't working for their kids. New research is examining how those dollars are being used and whether all schools are taking advantage of the program. Joining me now, Bob Looke from the John Locke Foundation has the details on that new research. Good afternoon, Bob. Okay, we're going to come back to Bob in just a minute. We're talking more about the Opportunity scholarship program and more and more families are taking advantage of it. But it looks like there are the elite school. So one of the narratives that comes out about the Opportunity Scholarship program is that it is more about about wealthy families taking advantage of it, but the program is really designed for those folks who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Bob Luke is going to be joining us here in about fifteen minutes with the details on this new study, so we're going to be talking more about that. Meantime, We've got a lot going on in the on the legal dockets here in North Carolina. A fight over government transparency and public records is once again putting the University of North Carolina under the spotlight. Carolina Journal joined up with the Daily tar Heel and the Charlotte Ledger in an effort to unseal portions of a settlement agreement involving You and Chapel Hill and a former student identified in that court record as Jacob Doe. The case involves a lawsuit filed by Doe after he was expelled from the UNC following a sexual misconduct investigation. Doe argues that the university violated his rights during that process. UNC and Doe reached a settlement, but a federal judge ordered the terms of that agreement to remain sealed, citing privacy and reputational concerns involving Doe and for women identified in the court documents as Jane Doe. Well, now, media organizations are challenging the decision, arguing that this is really a public interest and wanting the public to be able to understand how our public universities handle legal settlement settlements like this. So this case really kind of raises a broader question and something that has come up before in our state. When does the public's right to know outweigh privacy concerns. Supporters of transparents, they say that taxpayers deserve access to the information involved in public institutions like this one. Others say that there really are situations we're protecting the identities and the privacy of the individuals involve in sensitive cases is needed. But for you and see, there's just another chapter in our university system and an ongoing debate over openness, accountability, and how public universities are handling controversy. And election season is approaching, North Carolina voters could see another legal fight over voting rules. A federal appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments in September in a case challenging North Carolina's ban on what's commonly called ballot selfies. If you've ever taken a picture of your filled out ballot, you know what I'm talking about. The case involves voters who take a picture of that ballot and post it on social media or send it to a friend or whatever. Right now, that is actually illegal in North Carolina. North Carolina law prohibits taking photographs of a marked ballot. Whether you post it or distribute it or not, you're not allowed to take a picture or a video of your marked ballot. Supporters of the law say the restriction helps protect against intimidation and vote buying schemes. In the vote buying scheme, for example, someone would have to present photo proof that they voted for a certain person. But challengers argue that the ban actually violates free speech by preventing voters from sharing their own political expression. So this case is expected to be heard by the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals in mid September. The timing is actually really significant because our early voting for the November election begins in October, and we're just seven weeks from the absentee ballots going out, so that means a court's decision really could have an impact on how voters and election officials hand it handle ballot questions in this upcoming election cycle. Also across North Carolina, rising property values higher tax bills have become a big concern for homeowners, especially in a fast growing communities where our home values have just skyrocketed in recent years. The debate's not really just about the value of your home. It's about how much revenue local governments collect as those values rise. Critics of current property tax practices say that even when counties lower their tax rate after a reevaluation, homeowners can still end up paying significantly more because of the value of their property. Supporters of local governments say, hey, look, those higher revenues help us pay for services. There are growing community needs like schools and public safety, roads infrastructure. Well, you may now get a final say on a proposed change to the North Carolina Constitution. A constitutional amendment is proposed, potentially heading to your November ballot if voters approve it. The amendment would require the General Assembly to create limits on how quickly local governments can raise property tax levies. Supporters say The goal is to give homeowners more predictability prevent property tax collections from growing faster than inflation and population growth. Opponents argue that a statewide limit could make it harder for counties and cities to pay for needed services as communities grow. The proposal does not set a specific property tax rate or freeze property values, but instead it would put a constitutional requirement in our state constitution for future limits on property tax growth the rate at which property tax can grow. But for voters right here in Charlotte, where population growth and rising home values have become a big, big issue, property taxes are likely to be one of the biggest local government debates heading into the November election. And if you're an early riser, a mystery in the night sky over Charlotte has been solved. There's been, there was there was. If you saw some lights early early in the morning that look like a string of lights, it was actually starlink. It's really interesting to see how it works, but it looks like starlink. The way starlink works, they launch the satellites all together, and before they divide up and kind of spread out across the night sky, they are in a little line, so if you saw it and you wondered what that was because people were calling in and reporting this line of lights. Turns out that was starlink. Very interesting. So we're gonna be talking more about that in the last hour of the Pete Calender Show, and we're gonna be talking also about opportunity scholarships as Bob Lupke joins us to find out more. Plus, we have more information from Any Dance out west. You may remember Hurricane Helene. This issue is just not going away. Still in need of a lot of recovery, a lot of state money. I think we've got seven hundred million dollars North Carolina state budget to help those recover from Hurricane Helen. What does that recovery look like? Where's it going. It's going into infrastructure, it's going into bridges, it's going into workforce development in some cases Any Dance as a reporter out in western North Carolina, she's been covering that for Carolina Journal. She's going to join us because this morning, this Friday morning, there was a new meeting of Grow and See to decide how that money will be spent. 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We were just talking a few minutes ago about North Carolina families more and more often turning to opportunity scholarships to help cover some private school tuition if their families just can't afford it and the schools are just not working out for their kids. There's some new research examining how those dollars are being used. Joining me now, Bob Loopkey from the John Locke Foundation. Good afternoon, Bob, Thank you so much. Good to be here. Donna great. Well, you know your research looks at whether North Carolina's most elite private schools are participating in OSP or opportunity scholarship program because that's been the narrative that this is going to elite private schools by wealthy families. What'd you find out? Well, David Beth actually authored some of this research, and it's actually quite interesting. And what we found out is exactly what you just said, is there is a dominant narrative that OSP recipients are headed to elite private schools and which results in, you know, the public subsidizing high income earners. Is that the case based on what we found, we'd say, no, not exactly. The The research really sort of just torpedoes that narrative and shows it to be totally untrue. Sure, so we'll remind us, how, go go ahead. What we found, first of all, when we're talking about what's really interesting, first of all is the obsession with the elite schools. When we're talking about places, you know, high end private schools Ravenscroft, Asheville School, Charlotte lattin Providence State, things like that, schools that are high on the tuition end, oftentimes thirty thirty five thousand a year of very select populations. Those schools we found on the high end, the majority of them do not even take opportunities scholarship recipients. We need to recognize that it's a voluntary program that private schools participate in. They have every right not to participate in it, and the majority, the overwhelming majority of high end schools do not. So that narrative, you know, it's got a problem because the high end schools opportunity Opportunity scholarship recipients are not attending those schools. Well, you remind us for those who don't know, don't have kids in the program. How does opportunity scholarships work? Because it is taxpayer paid and it is often going to a private school, sometimes a religious school. How does this work? And who is it aimed at? Well? The Upcomy Scholarship Program started in The program was up and running in twenty fifteen from legislation past twenty fourteen. It was primarily at that time targeted on low and some moderate income students to help provide another educational options for students that were either struggling or you know, couldn't find a fit for themselves in a school that they felt comfortable in or their parents felt comfortable in. It was small, but grew steadily and in twenty twenty three, and let me back up, it grew about thirty two thousand students. Wow, okay, in twenty twenty three, I believe, and that year in twenty twenty three. The in between there that the eligibility requirements were raised a couple of times to allow more moderate income families to apply for this scholarship. Initially, the scholarship size is about forty two hundred dollars, which was about seventy five percent of the average private school tuition at that time. It remained that amount for quite a few years, was updated raised a little bit in the last three four years, and then in twenty twenty three it was overhauled to make everyone in North Carolina eligible. I'm not going to go through all the details on it now, but everyone in North Carolina essentially is eligible for the program. The size of the scholarship varies depending upon the household the income. Lower in families can receive a scholarship up to about seventy three hundred. Higher income if they're eligible, can receive a scholarship that's about thirty six hundred dollars. The application information is on the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority website, but most of the deadlines for application are in the spring. If there's money available after that, people can put in their application, but they're not necessarily assured that a scholarship will be available. But most of the time, most of the scholarships are handed out in early spring for the following year. So when you talk about that most of the money, the money is not going to really elite schools. How do you define elite in this way or high tuition schools for this research. I'd say in this case, we were viewing it as high end, high tuition, high tuition again in the range probably of about thirty thousand. Okay, that is high tuition. Yeah, yes, Now what we what's important here is about seventy percent I live about seventy percent of the opportunity scholarship recipients attend schools whose tuition is about seventy nine or less, primarily in religious schools either Protestant Catholic, often including some Muslim schools as well, but the religious schools dominate the landscape as far as as far as the type of opportunity scholarship schools. Again, but they are much smaller. It's a much lower tuition than you know, the the higher end private schools that you know, opponents of the opportunity scholarship are saying are saying that the dominant well that many OSP recipients are attending high end schools, and that's that's simply not the case. Very interesting. All right, well, thank you so much, Bob Luke the John Locke Foundation. That is eye opening. I appreciate your help. This afternoon, we're talking about the future of Western North Carolina really is at the center of a growing conversation about economic development, workforce needs, and how state leaders can support communities recovering from Hurricane Helene. Joining me Now, any dance reporter that's been covering this for Carolina Journal, Hi, Annie, how are you? I thought a doing well things? How are you doing well? Doing well? So you went to today's Grow and See Advisory committee meeting? Tell me what went on at that meeting and what are lawmaker stakeholders saying. I did so Grow and See for those who don't know, is the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina. They meet monthly. They also have some subcommittee, so it's Governor Josh Stein's advisory committee really trying to put everything together and propel forward. So today they met in Boone and it was a hybrid meeting. I joined virtually from ruther Britain, and really some interesting conversations came out of that, including an exciting economic development plan and part of that recovery. So really what to me was most striking was the conversation around transportation and around a lot of funding that's not only coming out of the state, but what may need to come further from the federal government. So there's a robust conversation from Sharon Decker, who is the senior advisor for growing see she was the head of with the Commerce Department under previous administration of the arts and crafts and other things coming out of western North Carolina. There's a lot of craft and you know, small business things, but there's also this really really interesting conversation about what could may happen with the future of aviation and really growing some regional airports that really struck me. I'm based in Rutherforton and Brotherford County has an airport that was really essential hub when Helene hit and a lot of people came to that airport not only for goods, but to distribute personnel to the airport to the area that was really heavily impacted in the Shimney Rock and Lake Lower Area. Sure, yeah, so I do remember that at the time it was a really key outlet for to getting help out there out west. It was and it still is. I mean, there's there's certain areas there's so much progress, but there's really it's really interesting to how roads are such a vital the key vital infrastructure and the piece that needs to be rebuilt. So sim New Rock especially has been of course heavily impacted that that stretch of road between back Eaven and shim New Rock that length not only Henderson County and Rutherford County, but also Bunkhom County. There's a little piece of Funkhom County there that it's almost it's almost forgotten, and there's there's been wildfire in that area. So that's really that whole area needs some more attention and it's finally getting that. So the conversation today and Boone was really interested in talking about not only the small business piece of it, but the translate and piece and really the water infrastructure piece. So there was a burn and just briers to the meeting in Burnsville. The governor was there and announced some more funding for water infrastructure. We're about twenty months after Hurricane Helene, and it feels like sometimes it's fallen out of the headlines, and I really appreciate you covering these things and helping us keep it in the headlines. But twenty months later, what was the overall mood? What are you feeling out there in the West with officials, local leaders. Are people optimistic, frustrated? Do they feel left behind? What's the mood? It's really interesting how it can really kind of almost vary by depending on where're located. So if you go if you go to Baccui, certainly there's a feeling because you see it and you are entrenched in it when you're trying to just go about your daily activities and go to the store. And there's people in the Middle four community near the back Cave firehouse who are really impacted by the road construction. Then if you go a little bit further down the road, perhaps up to Asheville or even further down to Uthertherton and to for a city, it's not as impacted. So there's really it really depends on where you are. But what I think listeners and readers should check out the last Carolina Journal story about the renew and c homes and what's going on with a dashboard. So there's a public dashboard on there, and it really gives a pretty insightful view onto not only what's happening in where you might live in one county, but the whole Western North Carolina. Every county in western North Carolina has been impacted, and the numbers are pretty staggering. So there's almost eight thousand total applications of people who were trying to get this renew and see family home application who may need have had their homes try to be rebuilt or repaired. So there's it has impacted every single county in western North Carolina. Wow. So you know, we periodically see celebrations of another house being completed. Governor Josh Stein highlighted one, but there's a lot of families still waiting. What are those numbers tell us about where the program stands? Do you feel like it's successful? We just don't have a great track record with Florence and Matthew. Do you think Helen will be different? I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful of that, But I think there's really two not only seeing the numbers from the state, but how that connects to local government. So when Hooyne hit. There was this feeling I felt, and I heard from local government leaders who didn't seem like they really kind of got to just of it. They didn't really feel like few parts of ruther Preton where I live, were as impacted as they Swimmy Rock, and that really wasn't the case if you look at the numbers. So that really shows me that there's sort of this disconnect of maybe perception. But if you look at the data, it shows that there's hundreds of people waiting, and there's it's helpful because there's hammer swinging, as they discussed today in the meeting, but there's there were thousands of people who are listed as inactive or ineligible, and that maybe because various reasons, like they didn't meet a certain criteria laid out by HUD, the federal grant program that helps to fund this and get this moving. So there are about a thousand homes that have been completed if you count in the nonprofits and other programs. So overall, it's moving, but it definitely feels like it's it's a slow process. It really is. Any dance, thanks so much, much, I appreciate it. And you can catch all of Annie's stories on Carolina Journal dot com and WBT dot com. Any have a good afternoon. Thanks so much. I'm Donna King for sitting in for Peak Calendar today on the Peak Calendar show. Got a lot going on, so stick with us right here on WBT. One of the news stories we're following. North Carolina's Medicaid program continues to grow grow, and state spending on the program is now approaching forty two billion billion dollars so. A new analysis out this afternoon shows Medicaid spending in North Carolina has increased by about ninety three percent over the last four years. The growth comes as a state has expanded Medicaid eligibility, adding more people to the program, and seen overall healthcare cost increases in recent years. Supporters of medicaid expansions say the program gives more North Carolinians access to healthcare brings federal dollars into the state, but critics have raised concerns about the long term cost taxpayers and whether the state can really sustain that level of spending in future budgets. These latest numbers show Medicaid has become one of the largest parts of the state budget spending, putting at the center of ongoing debates over healthcare costs, budget priorities, and government growth. Now for lawmakers in Raleigh, the challenge is balancing the promise of expanded healthcare access with questions about how much the program will cost in the years ahead. North Carolina elections officials are moving ahead with new rules for voter ID, but critics say those rules could still create some problems for voters when they head to the polls of this November. The North Carolina State Board of Elections recently approved guidance for how election workers should handle photo ID requirements. The rules are designed to implement the state's voter ID law, which voters approved as a constitutional amendment. Under the rules, voters generally must show an acceptable photo ID when voting in person. Voters who do not have an ID can complete option process and still cast a ballot. Election officials say the goal is to make sure counties applied the law consistently across the state, but critics argue the rules could lead to ballots being rejected if voters misunderstand the requirements or if election workers apply the rules differently. Supporters of voter IDs say the requirement is a big basic election security measure and helps increase confidence in the voting process. The debate over voter id has been one of the most closely watched election issues in North Carolina for years, and it's likely to remain a topic headed into the November elections. And North Carolina schools are getting some new guidance too, this time on how to handle screen time, but the recommendation stops short of setting specific limits. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has now released its first statewide guidance on how schools should manage the use of school issued devices like laptops and tablets. The guidance encourages schools to focus less on the amount of time spent on screens and more on how those devices are being used. The new document says that schools should distinguish between what it calls active screen use that would be things like creating, collaborating problem solving and passive use like scrolling or watching videos without a real learning purpose. The guidance does not set a maximum amount of screen time for any grade level. Instead, it recommends a gradual approach. Elementary schools should have more adult guided use, middle school students should quote share responsibility, and high school students should manage their own technology use with accountability. State officials say the goal is to encourage intentional use of technology rather than limiting it, but some lawmakers and policy groups say this guidance just does not go far enough. They point out that the state has already passed a law addressing personal cell phones in school Governor Josh Stein signed the Protecting Students in a Digital Age Law last year. That law requires school boards to adopt policies restricting student use of personal wireless devices during instruction all the time, but the law does not address school issued devices. Critics say those devices may actually create bigger challenges in the classroom. The UNC Chapel Hills study on technology use in schools found that many students report being distracted by classmates school issued devices. The study also found that students use workarounds to bypass school filters or access gaming sites. Teachers have also reported challenges managing technology during classroom time. Some lawmakers have suggested we need stronger restrictions, including limits that would restrict device use throughout the school day. This issue comes as North Carolina is also investing more heavily in classroom technology. The new state budget includes funding for an artificial intelligence tutoring pilot program for middle and high school students and major retailers bringing a new distribution hub to Rowan County, and announcement today that American Eagle is going to invest forty one million dollars in Salisbury for a new distribution center with two hundred jobs. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.