RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Hundreds of private schools are receiving taxpayer money through the Opportunity Scholarship program, but CBS 17 has learned that private schools are not held to the same standards as public schools.
North Carolina state law requires private schools to maintain attendance and immunization records and meet fire safety and sanitation standards, but when it comes to the content students are learning, experts say there is little to no state oversight. “North Carolina has among the most limited requirements for schools,” said Jane Wettach, a retired clinical professor of law at Duke University, who spent years researching the Opportunity Scholarship program.
Wettach noted state law requires private schools to operate for nine months out of the year. “There are no requirements they have to spend a particular amount of time on academics as opposed to other kinds of instruction, athletic, religious or whatever else,” she said.
Students receiving voucher money must take a nationally-recognized standardized test every year, but there are no requirements for curriculum, subjects taught, or teacher certification. The North Carolina Department of Administration says, “Since North Carolina’s non-public schools receive no state tax dollars and enroll only about 10% of the compulsory attendance age children living in North Carolina, the State of North Carolina does not attempt to regulate the religious philosophy, educational philosophy or the operational policies of non-public schools.” With the Opportunity Scholarship program, though, private schools are receiving taxpayer money.
Unlike public schools, which have an obligation to serve all students, private schools can choose which students to admit or dismiss with few restrictions. “Private schools have no limits on discrimination other than race, color, or national origin, so private schools are free to discriminate and choose their students,” Wettach said. “They can discriminate based on academic, behavioral, disability, religion, being gay, or anything else they choose as a requirement or criteria for admission.”
CBS 17 examined handbooks and websites from several schools. The handbook for North Raleigh Christian Academy says students can be denied a spot or removed from the school based on “atmosphere or conduct” in their homes that the school considers immoral, including, “sex outside of marriage, homosexual acts, bisexual acts, gender identity different than the birth sex at the chromosomal level”. The handbook for Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham says “Any student who has been pregnant or has caused a pregnancy (full term, abortion, or miscarriage) is not eligible for admission.” On its application for admission, Neuse Christian Academy in Raleigh requires students to answer whether they read their Bible daily, pray daily, and “witness to lost people”. Questions for parents include, “Is your child moody?”
With hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money going to private schools through the Opportunity Scholarship program, CBS 17 asked Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger whether there need to be more rules or regulations, particularly when it comes to admitting students. “We might need to continue to look at those kinds of issues,” Berger said. “But at this point, we are relying on parents to make decisions as to what’s best of their students.”
Schools receiving voucher money do have to follow rules related to financial accountability and provide the state with test scores and graduation rates. If a school does not do that, it can lose its eligibility to receive vouchers.