Nearly 93% of North Carolina students qualify for Trump-backed school choice credit

North Carolina’s legislature approved participation in the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit, a school-choice initiative promoted by Donald Trump, after a Senate override of Gov. Josh Stein’s veto. The credit, which can provide up to $1,700 per family, will be available beginning in January and makes the state the 31st to join the program. Patrick Graff of the American Federation for Children calculated that nearly 93% of the state’s 1.7 million public-school students qualify, a figure that also includes roughly 153 000 homeschooled learners.

Republican officials such as Rep. Brian Biggs and House Speaker Destin Hall highlighted that the funding comes entirely from the federal government, meaning no cost to North Carolina’s budget. The legislation, known as House Bill 87, passed the Senate 30-19 and had previously cleared the House with bipartisan support, including votes from Carla Cunningham and Nasif Majeed. The move expands the existing Opportunity Scholarship Program, which already offers sliding-scale scholarships for private-school tuition, and eliminates a waiting list of about 55 000 families.