Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Back in January, I wrote a couple of columns focused on a few current education-related topics in North Carolina. Specifically, how sports betting would benefit some college athletic programs and what the legislature was doing with the Opportunity Scholarship program that provides state funding for private school tuition.

I recently read some follow-up reporting from WUNC on both topics.

Mobile sports betting in North Carolina was legalized last year, and finally got underway back in March (conveniently just as the NCAA basketball tournament was about to begin). The new opportunity for legal betting was so popular that the state has already received billions in tax revenue.

A portion of those revenues will go to the state lottery fund, which is directed towards initiatives in public education. But another portion will be allocated to support athletic programs at 13 of North Carolina’s public universities (excluding UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State, which have other revenue sources to rely on). Many of these colleges are small and struggle to fund their athletic programs.

In a WUNC interview with the UNC Pembroke Director of Athletics back in January, he explained that many universities in the UNC System receive their athletic funding through the Intercollegiate Athletic Fee, paid by full-time face-to-face students. But that revenue source is dwindling thanks to more part-time students and virtual schooling. So the costs for coaching salaries, equipment, facility maintenance, travel, and more add up for these smaller schools that aren’t in a Power 5 conference.

Back in January, the 13 schools expected a baseline amount of $300,000 each to boost their athletic departments. But thanks to the popularity of sports betting so far, those universities will receive around $820,000 each this year. Estimates say that amount could be $2 million per school next year. In return, they have to submit budget plans to the university system to show how the funds will be used.

For many students, participating in athletics is an important aspect of their educational and social experiences, so I’m glad to see that the gambling funds will go towards helping alleviate some financial strain on these schools so they can continue. It’s nice to see an alternative way to provide funding.

I still don’t think it’s great to have to rely on gambling for funding, but at least it’s better than nothing!

A more contentious topic, however, has been the Opportunity Scholarship. Republican legislators expanded the program earlier this year, opening it up to families of all income levels. But broadening the program meant that many more people applied than in previous years, so 55,000 students were waitlisted as the program ran out of funds.

The legislators tried to pass another bill that would use an additional $248 million to clear the waitlist, but they adjourned for the summer before reaching an agreement on it. So it looks unlikely that anyone on the waitlist will get any sort of resolution before the new school year begins this month. Even private schools are stuck in limbo trying to figure out if waitlisted students will be joining their classes this year.

According to WUNC reporting, there were around 72,000 new applicants for the Opportunity Scholarship this year since the program was opened to all income levels. Applicants are divided into four tiers based on household income (for a family of four). Most of this year’s scholarships (over 13,000) were awarded to Tier 1 families, whose income is $57,000 or less. Over 2,200 applicants in Tier 2 (household income up to $115,000) received scholarships as well.

But there were more than 18,000 applicants total in Tier 2.

Tier 3 is for applicants with a household income of up to $259,000, and Tier 4 is for applicants whose income is over $260,000. There were over 26,600 applicants in Tier 3 (the most of any tier) and almost 13,000 applicants from Tier 4 this year.

In my personal opinion, if you are making more than a quarter million dollars per year, you probably can already afford the tuition for a private school education if that’s where you want to send your kids. Why do you need other people’s tax dollars for that?

I remain unconvinced that it was necessary to devote so many tax dollars to expanding this program.

I can understand the reasons why parents may want to switch their kids from public to private schools. I’m not arguing against that. But I do wish we could find better solutions than just continually expanding the Opportunity Scholarship program.

Perhaps the legislators can make easier flexibility for switching between public schools, if parents want to choose a different facility for their children. Perhaps private schools should have to measure up to the same standards and be assessed the same way as public schools if they want to receive state funding. And perhaps if the state legislature had been properly funding and supporting public schools all along, then parents wouldn’t feel the need to have to find alternative options for their kids because their current schools are struggling.

Even though the legislature is on a break right now, I’m sure the discussion on Opportunity Scholarship funding will continue in the future. And I’ll still keep paying attention to that story – and other educational topics – as it develops.

Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7206.