Following Investigation, NC Private School Must Pay Back Thousands of Dollars

Source: WRAL

As state Republicans attempt to push their private school voucher program, one private school is accused of receiving voucher money for students who didn’t attend the school.

According to WRAL, The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority found Mitchener University Academy in Selma ineligible to receive the state’s private school voucher, called an Opportunity Scholarship.

The private school has been ordered to pay back $316,725 for students who had not attended or who had withdrawn from the school.

The Johnston County school is not the first private school to be removed from the voucher program. According to WFAE, the following schools have been removed:

Oasis Performing Arts School, in Charlotte, failed to submit test scores, a tuition and fee schedule and a criminal check on the school’s leader, as required by law. This resulted in the school receiving no scholarship money in 2021-22, the authority says. In 2020-21, the school received $12,600.

Assembly of Faith Christian School, in the Gaston County town of Dallas, was deemed ineligible for failure to submit test scores, “but no scholarship money was disbursed to them in the 2022-23 school year.” The school got $13,440 in 2021-22.

Academy of Excellence, in Statesville, was declared ineligible after failing to provide a criminal history check in 2022. But the school had not had scholarship recipients enrolled since 2018-19, when it got $3,800.

Jefferson Day School, in Winston-Salem, failed to submit test scores in 2022 and was declared ineligible to receive money for that school year. It received $6,300 in 2020-21.

An analysis by the North Carolina Justice Center found that Mitchener University Academy is among 26 private schools in which the number of Opportunity Scholarships awarded exceeded the number of students the schools reported enrolling during the 2021-22 school year.

“It just goes to show it’s the Wild West and someone needs to get a handle on this before we start spending half a billion a year on it,” Kris Nordstrom, education policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center, told WRAL.

This comes as state Republicans are moving to expand their private school voucher program that would pull millions out of public schools. Both Senate Bill 406 and House Bill 823, would divert over $2.2 billion of taxpayer money away from chronically underfunded public schools and into private schools.

Read more at WRAL

Share:

More Posts

Las Amenazas de Tarifas de Trump y sus Consecuencias para América del Norte

Las amenazas de tarifas de Donald Trump contra Canadá y México pusieron en riesgo la economía de América del Norte. Trump ha adoptado una postura agresiva con los dos principales socios comerciales de Estados Unidos. La implementación de tarifas del 25% a todas las importaciones desde México y la mayoría de las importaciones de Canadá, junto con un impuesto menor del 10% a los productos energéticos canadienses, causó una tormenta política y económica.

“North Carolinians v Griffin”: Statewide Rallies Against Jefferson Griffin’s Power Grab

Hosted by Common Cause North Carolina, the rallies over the President’s Day holiday will give impacted voters a chance to raise their voices and condemn N.C. Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin’s effort to throw out 65,500 ballots cast in the November election.

Rallies will take place in various locations including Raleigh, Hillsborough, Apex, Greensboro, Charlotte, Salisbury, Asheville, Boone, Rutherfordton, Franklin, Greenville, Elizabeth City, Nags Head, Warrenton, Fayetteville, New Bern, and more.

Trump’s federal freeze threatens disaster relief, school funding, state patrol in NC

The freeze would result in North Carolina losing billions of dollars in funding for disaster relief, public schools, and state agencies. Though the order was temporarily blocked by a federal judge, Rep. Deborah Ross explained that it has left state and federal officials confused on how to proceed. She remains hopeful that it will not be allowed to pass but expressed the importance of understanding what is at risk.