NC tax dollars to private school vouchers this fiscal year

$0.00

FY 2025–26 · $600,000,000 appropriated

That same money could fund

0
Students Fully Funded
closing the gap from $8,312 to $20,000 per student
one every ~10 minutes
0
Pre-K Slots
full-year NC Pre-K at $9,394 per child
one every ~8 minutes
0
Teachers to National Avg
closing the $13,738 salary gap, plus fringe
(NC: $58,292 vs. U.S.: $72,030)
one every ~16 minutes

91.6% of voucher recipients were already in private school.

NC DPI pipeline data, 2024–25 — EdNC

Counter Math

Main counter: $600,000,000 ÷ 31,536,000 sec = $19.03/sec
Elapsed from July 1, 2025 00:00 ET (NC fiscal year start).

Students fully funded ($11,688 gap): NC currently spends $8,312 per student in state funds (NC DPI, $12.75B ÷ 1,533,889 students, FY 2025–26). We use $20,000 as a fully-funded target. The gap is $20,000 − $8,312 = $11,688. At that rate, $600M ÷ $11,688 = 51,333 students.
Conservative note: The $8,312 figure counts only state appropriations. Total per-pupil spending including local and federal funds is higher. NCAE/Education Law Center report a cost-adjusted state+local figure of $12,193 (2023), which would narrow the gap to ~$7,807 and raise the count to ~76,800 students. We use the state-only figure to avoid overstating the impact of redirecting state funds.

Pre-K slots ($9,394): All-source spending per child enrolled in NC Pre-K, 2023–24 (NIEER). $600M ÷ $9,394 = 63,870 slots per year. For context, only 27,304 four-year-olds are currently enrolled and 43% of eligible children (~48,000 total) are unserved.
Conservative note: State-only spending per child is $7,117 (NIEER), which would yield ~84,300 slots. We use the higher all-source figure ($9,394) to reflect the true cost of a quality pre-K slot and avoid overstating what these funds could deliver.

Teachers to national avg ($18,092 gap): NC average teacher salary is $58,292 (NEA/NCAE, 2023–24). The national average is $72,030. Salary gap: $72,030 − $58,292 = $13,738. Fully loaded with benefits (TSERS 24.04% + FICA 7.65%): $13,738 × 1.3169 = $18,092. At that rate, $600M ÷ $18,092 = 33,160 teachers could be raised to the national average.

Voucher Program

Teacher Pay Gap

Early Childhood / Pre-K

Education Funding

Legislative History

  • 2023 eligibility expansion (H259) — NCSEAA
  • HB 10 veto override, Nov 2024 — EdNC
  • HB 87 (ECCA) Senate roll call, July 29, 2025 — NC General Assembly
  • HB 87 vetoed Aug 6, 2025 — EdNC