School vouchers under scrutiny as incoming NC House speaker prioritizes education

Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Nov 10, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — It’s been a week since Democrats flipped the North Carolina House, and major issues are emerging that they’ll focus on come January.

Among them is a topic that has dominated debate, and Democratic priorities, for years: education funding.

House Minority Leader Robert Reives, who has the votes to be the speaker when session begins in 2027, told reporters Tuesday he wants the state to be top in the nation in education. And, he added, private school vouchers, like other programs funded by taxpayers, will get the same scrutiny during upcoming budget negotiations.

Best education in the country?

North Carolina has frequently been low in the ranks nationwide in terms of education, from teacher pay to spending. Reives wants to change that.

“I think we should have the best education system in the country, but I think the education system isn’t just about pay,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

“I can tell you there are teachers right now that I promise you, they would trade a pay raise for a better working environment,” he said. “They’d trade a pay raise to be able to get more supplies, to be able to get more time, to not be under constraints that don’t really measure how well they’re doing as teachers and how well the kids are educated,” he said.

“So I want to invest in the whole thing, and I want to save money, too.”

One potential money-saving target is private school vouchers, which has long been a Republican priority.

Private school vouchers on Democrats’ list for 2027

Private school vouchers, which are taxpayer-funded Opportunity Scholarships for students’ private school tuition, were expanded a few years ago to allow all families to receive them. Once targeted to families in financial need, expanding the program led to millions of dollars more in spending in the state budget.

Democrats, and public school teachers who have marched to the Legislative Building, have long said vouchers take money away from public schools. Republicans and other supporters of voucher expansion have argued that money should follow each child like a backpack, allowing more school choices.

“Everybody has a lot of opinions about the opportunity scholarship program and the voucher program,” Reives said. “I will tell you this, is that I think one thing that Republicans and Democrats agree on, that it is ridiculous that somebody who’s making millions of dollars gets a coupon from the state when we can’t afford to pay for public education.”

“So I think there are certain areas that we’re all going to agree on and be able to move. Going forward, the second thing we’ve got to recognize is our revenues are limited, and candidly, they’re limited because of what I feel were some short-sighted decisions that were made by the majority,” he said.

In 2024, the General Assembly passed House Bill 10, which was about immigration and clearing a more than $500 million backlog of voucher applicants.

Reives said the Opportunity Scholarship Program is “in the same boat as every other thing that we’ve got” as they are working on the state budget. He said the program is operating “as a luxury item” right now and needs more oversight and accountability.

“Everybody’s got to play on the same field, and so I can promise you that that has been one of the No. 1 topics from any Democrat that has been elected, and Democrats that haven’t been elected, that they’d like to see change. And candidly, I’ve seen a lot of Republicans that feel like that has gotten a little out of hand. So we’re going to address it,” he said.