North Carolina students win as court allows scholarship payments

 Photo courtesy Institute for Justice

On Friday, the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued a decision lifting part of Judge Robert Hobgood's preliminary injunction blocking the state’s Opportunity Scholarship school choice program.

The Court of Appeals' decision allows the payment of scholarship funds to the families of the 1,878 students who accepted Opportunity Scholarships through the before Judge Hobgood declared the program unconstitutional.

Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Dick Komer said, "The decision lifts a huge burden of uncertainty off the shoulders of hundreds of North Carolina families and private schools."

"Although today’s decision isn’t the final word on the program, it bodes well for full vindication. More importantly, it bodes well for the families whose only wish is to find the best education for their children."

No other funds may be distributed until the appeals, which claims that Judge Hobgood’s ruling was improper, are decided. 

North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, which was enacted in 2013, allows low-income parents to afford private school for their children whose needs aren’t being met by public schools.

You can watch parent Cynthia Perry and Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Dick Komer discus the case and North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship school litigation program in the following video:

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Franklin School Choice Fellow