AFC condemns injunction placed on North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program
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Injunction harms students, complicates popular educational choice program
Washington, D. C. (August 21, 2014) – The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice, condemns a North Carolina Superior Court judge’s decision to place a permanent injunction on the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. The program is already set to serve 2,000 children during the 2014-2015 school year, but the injunction prevents additional children from enrolling in the popular program.
“Today’s decision by Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood places petty, adult politics above children who are desperately seeking a quality education,” said Kevin P. Chavous, executive counsel for the American Federation for Children. “Parents and children are counting on this program to provide them the educational lifeline they are so desperately seeking. While an expedited appeals process is taking place, we urge the courts to lift this injunction and allow children to attend a quality school of their parents’ choice.”
Passed in July 2013, the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program creates scholarships for children from low-income families to attend the school of their parents’ choice. Demand for educational choice in the state is high, with nearly 5,000 applications submitted in two months.
Our ally in the state, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, released the following statement: http://bit.ly/1tp6s1B.
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The American Federation for Children is the nation’s leading school choice advocacy organization and works in states across the country to help secure additional, high-quality educational options for families.