A veto override for school choice, parental rights, and accountability

This week, the North Carolina House voted to override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of House Bill 87, the Educational Choice for Children Act, a bill that would allow North Carolina to participate in the new federal scholarship tax-credit program. The program allows taxpayers to receive a dollar-for-dollar, nonrefundable federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to approved scholarship-granting organizations. As of April 15, 2026, 27 states have decided to opt-in, including both red and blue states.

The vote highlights a fundamental difference between two views of education policy. The status quo asks, “How much more money do we need?” School choice asks, “How do we give families the freedom to find what works?”

It also highlights a key premise of America’s founding: Government exists to serve people, not the other way around.

One of the poorly kept secrets of the status quo is that its defenders fear school choice will pull the most engaged families out of public education, leaving the system disproportionately populated by students who need the most intervention and support. But that argument points to the very problem reformers are trying to address. Public, charter, private, and home-school enrollment numbers show that North Carolina families are already making different choices. In 2024-25, North Carolina had more than 135,000 private-school students, more than 165,000 home-school students, and more than 151,000 charter-school students, while traditional public-school enrollment was down about 3% from 2019-20, despite overall growth in our state’s population.

Despite those enrollment shifts, public-school funding continues to rise, partly because there are fixed costs in buildings, transportation, staff, and other factors. State funding for public schools increased from $12.6 billion in 2024-25 to $12.75 billion in 2025-26, even as enrollment declined by roughly 4,674 students, according to a Carolina Journal comparison of Department of Public Instruction data.

The truth is that our current system is built for a different time and a different enrollment reality. If we refuse to change and insist only on more funding rather than better results, we will lose students, families, and public confidence.

Young families and their students should not be treated as instruments for preserving existing institutions. Parents retain the primary responsibility and authority for the upbringing of their children, and parents do not owe failing systems their children’s futures. Their children are not our experiment or a social project.

This policy debate is connected directly to the foundational values of John Locke: natural rights, limited government, consent of the governed, and institutions that exist to serve the people. If government does not serve families well, citizens have both a moral and a legal obligation to improve it, fix it, or provide an alternative.

The federal scholarship tax-credit program also reflects a healthy skepticism of concentrated power. The IRS and Treasury have said the program begins in 2027 and allows states to make an advance election to participate. Participating states must identify approved scholarship-granting organizations, which then provide scholarships for eligible K-12 education expenses. That approval process does raise some eyebrows with those who are skeptical of government involvement, and will continue to face oversight as it moves forward. In the end, the program is optional. People do not have to participate or fund it. If they don’t, that is accountability at work.

School choice reflects the American principle that citizens should have meaningful agency over decisions affecting their lives and families. Under traditional public-school assignment, a family’s educational options often depend on whether they can afford to live in the “right” district, pay private tuition, move, or gamble on a charter-school lottery. But a strong majority of North Carolina voters continue to support choice: A January 2026 Carolina Journal Poll found 64% support for the Opportunity Scholarship Program, 57% support for public charter schools, and 79% support for open enrollment within districts.

Millions of families across the country are demanding more options, not fewer. As we approach the 250^th anniversary of America’s founding, we must remember that North Carolina was key in fighting that good fight. Our rights precede institutions, and the public institutions that serve the people must remain accountable for results.

“A veto override for school choice, parental rights, and accountability” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.