NC charter schools back GOP budget deal. But is it enough to support public schools?

Charter schools and families who will receive private school vouchers are some of the big winners in the mini-budget bill approved Wednesday by state lawmakers.

Much of the focus in the GOP budget deal has been on how it provides an additional $463 million in voucher funding to help 50,000 students attend private schools. But the bill also includes $95 million to fund public school enrollment growth that will help some growing charter schools make their payrolls.

“We’re very thankful that the General Assembly came back and they included that growth into the mini-budget,” Lindalyn Kakadelis, executive director of the N.C. Coalition for Charter Schools, said in an interview Wednesday. “They heard from districts, hopefully. But I know they heard from charter schools.”

Kakadelis said the additional funding will ease the anxiety some of the state’s 209 charter schools are feeling about having enough money this school year.

But public school supporters say what lawmakers approved is a far cry from what’s needed to support education.

“That’s just another loophole to ignore public school funding,” Drew Washington, a youth organizer for the Education Justice Alliance, said in an interview Wednesday.

State changes how schools are funded

State lawmakers overhauled the way public schools — both traditional and charter schools — are funded.

Schools now get state dollars based on how many students they had last school year. A contingency fund is supposed to provide additional money to school districts and charter schools that have more students than last school year.

The funding model change comes as charter schools could add 10,000 more students this year at a time when enrollment has been dropping in school districts .

But the contingency fund only has $2.5 million, less than 5% of the amount needed to fund the enrollment growth.

Unlike school districts, Kakadelis said many charter schools don’t have the cash reserves to cover the growth until the state dollars come. She said it’s especially the case for newer charter schools.

“It is extremely time-sensitive for some charter schools,” Kakadelis said. “They grew. They did what they were supposed to do.”

Charters warn payrolls might not be met

The funding delay has led to charter schools and their advocates warning what will happen if the money isn’t provided soon.

“North Carolina charter schools, in particular, have experienced some of the highest enrollment increases in the nation,” according to Prestige School Solutions, a company that provides accounting and payroll services to nearly 100 North Carolina schools. “If schools experiencing growth or opening do not receive the recommended amounts allocated in the ADM contingency reserve, these schools will likely be unable to make payroll.”

Kakadelis said one charter school told her group they’re only funded now for 138 students even though they had to hire enough to teach 240 students. The school says it doesn’t have enough money to pay teachers through November, forcing them to potentially miss payroll or lease payments on their building.

Another charter, Kakadelis said, warned that it would have to borrow $1.1 million if it didn’t get the additional growth funds until July 2025. The school said it might have to send students back to their home schools or lay off newly hired teachers if it couldn’t borrow the money.

‘A win for education’

House Republican lawmakers had initially balked at providing the additional voucher funding unless it was coupled with increased public school funding. Instead of a deal to raise teacher pay, the House and Senate GOP agreed to provide an additional $95 million to the growth contingency fund.

House Rules Chair Destin Hall, a Caldwell County Republican who is expected to be the next House speaker, said they’ll look at teacher raises in the long session next year. For now, Hall said the bill addresses this school year’s enrollment growth needs.

“They had a growing number of kids, and so because the budget wasn’t passed in the short session — or the adjustment wasn’t passed — we didn’t have those updated ADM (average daily membership) figures to put in there,” Hall told reporters on Wednesday.

“So now we’re solving that issue as well. So all in all, it’s a win for education in this state.”

Will Cooper veto the bill?

The deal now goes to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who is expected to veto the bill due to concerns such as the expansion of private school voucher funding.

But Kakadelis said she hopes Cooper won’t delay the public school funding by forcing an override vote. Republicans have a super-majority to override a veto.

“We know the Governor doesn’t like it,” Kakadelis said. “However, there’s lot more in the budget than Opportunity Scholarships.”

Public education groups who oppose the voucher expansion hope Cooper will veto the legislation.

On Wednesday, members from Every Child NC, a coalition of left-leaning groups that supports public schools, held a rally outside the Legislative Building.

Instead of voucher expansion, the coalition wants the state to fund the multi-billion Leandro plan, which is meant to give public schools the resources to provide students with a sound, basic education.

Instead of properly funding public schools, Washington of the Education Justice Alliance said state lawmakers passed a bill that funds “niche” areas like charter schools.

“The reason that we’re out here is that public schools have always been underfunded,” Washington said. “They continued to be underfunded, and there’s always smaller groups that are trying to take from the larger pot.”

But Hall said vouchers don’t take money away from public schools. He said school systems wouldn’t be getting those dollars anyway from those students attending private schools.

“Opportunity Scholarships are tremendously popular in this state,” Hall said. “At the end of the day, most people agree that people should be able to send their kids to school where they want to send them.”