Posted on 08/21/2014 7:51:04 AM PDT by GIdget2004
A Superior Court judge on Thursday overturned a state law that awards taxpayer-funded vouchers to low-income families who want to send their children to private or religious schools.
Judge Robert Hobgood ruled that the Opportunity Scholarship program is unconstitutional, upholding legal challenges filed by the North Carolina Association of Educators, the North Carolina School Boards Association and dozens of local school boards.
About 5,500 students applied for the annual grants of up to $4,200 per child, and the first $730,000 in tuition money for more than 360 students was released last Friday.
Hobgood issued a permanent injunction prohibiting any more state funds from being disbursed for vouchers. He said it would be up to the Attorney General's Office to determine how the state would recoup the money handed out last week if the ruling is upheld on appeal.
State lawmakers created the voucher program last year, setting aside $10 million for the Opportunity Scholarships to start in the 2014-15 school year. They added more money to the program in this year's budget to accommodate as many of the applicants as possible.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
The pro-choicers are at it again!
“Did the GI Bill allow use at religious colleges?”
Yes. The school has to apply to be a participant, and one of the main criteria for approval is whether or not the school is approved to receive federal financial aid for their students.
what?
Students that attend private colleges such as Baylor University receive TONS of grants from the state and federal government.
Federal Pell Grants and numerous other grants given by the state can be used to pay for attendance to any public or private college.
Here is a link to the grants both federal and state that are available to Baylor students, and Baylor is a private Baptist University.
http://www.baylor.edu/sfs/index.php?id=69465
Dumb sh— judges.
Government schools are unconstitutional because they violate the “free exercise” AND “establishment” clauses of the first amendment.
-— Did the GI Bill allow use at religious colleges? /honest question. I assume yes, but don’t know. -—
Yes. Milton Friedman often cited it in defense of vouchers.
In this case, as soon as the law is passed and signed by the governor, it is taken out of the lower courts jurisdiction.
This is a reflection of the under-used federal power, in which congress must respect the SCOTUS, which is created by the constitution, but has full sway over lower courts.
An important point, because with conservatives as chairmen of the US House and Senate judiciary committees, there is a long overdue need to structurally and procedurally reform the federal judiciary, and once signed by the POTUS, there is nothing that the courts could do about it.
Also importantly, while federal judges have tenure for life, that only applies to their title as a judge and their paycheck. If their court is abolished, they still get paid, but no longer have a bench to rule from. So this may be a way to purge a large number of bad judges without resorting to impeachment.
As far as procedure goes, congress could also, for example, streamline state death penalty appeals, so murderers could be executed in 5 years instead of 20 or more. They could also remove lots of bureaucratic regulations from being actionable. That is, if congress abolished the endangered species act, nobody would have standing to sue in federal court to force its retention.
Thank you for the explanation. My question was serious and your answer even more so. Greatly appreciated.
hopefully that’s 5500 new GOP voters
So more money for schools isn’t needed.
That is my understanding of the federal grant program, too, GIdget.
But correct me if I am wrong — if the college takes federal grant money, that college MUST conform it ALL federal regulations, and it doesn’t matter if it is a private, religious school or not.
That is why my son’s college (Christendom), and a few others (Hillsdale) do not accept federal grant money at all. I believe the only exception is the GI Bill. (And I could be wrong about that, too.)
Regards,
I just looked, wow.... Christendom is a very very very small college
The universities are opening up MORE law schools.
There are first year law school seats going empty because of the massive capacity. Law schools are now nothing more that another way for a university to feed on guaranteed student loans. (loans which are non-dischargeable in bankruptcy) It is so bad that law schools are hiring their own graduates to give the ILLUSION of graduates having jobs.
These suits are pushed by teachers.
Imagine if all schools were voucher based and schools had to compete bases on (gasp!) merit.
Teacher unions and property taxes.
Yes, it is. But it is extremely conservative, very Catholic, and gives a completely classical education. No Queer Studies or Trans-Gendered Literature at Christendom!
Going to a small school will afford him an opportunity he never had — that being the opportunity to sit in a classroom with fewer than 40 students. It is very nice to be able to be taught by an ACTUAL professor to whom you are more that just a student ID number who sits in the 52nd row of an auditorium for class.
I myself experienced this when I went from a high school with more than 5000 students in it (NYC public schools, God help me) to a college of about the same size as Christendom. It was a totally new experience for me, and I enjoyed it very much. Now, his (Catholic) high school was not quite as large as my high school. His had only 2000 students, and about 500 in the graduating class, but like Christendom, this high school has very high academic standards, and DOES NOT comply with Common Core.
So despite the small size, my Billy will fit right in. BTW, small as Christendom is, there are other, even smaller conservative, Catholic schools out there. THOSE, I think are a bit TOO small for college.
Regards,
“But correct me if I am wrong — if the college takes federal grant money, that college MUST conform it ALL federal regulations, and it doesn’t matter if it is a private, religious school or not.”
Yes, that’s essentially correct. The regulatory and reporting burdens are very high for the schools that take the $$$. There aren’t many out there that forego the money in an effort to preserve their autonomy.
The GI Bill and other VA benefits operate under separate regulation from the federal student aid programs. They come with their own regulatory burdens, but they are different than regular student aid. Schools can participate in one and not the other.
I can see how it is an advantage in getting an actual education without the leftist pollution but the football and basketball teams probably stink.
lol. //arcasm
No football team. I don’t know enough about basketball to make a judgment (but I doubt you’ll be seeing the Crusaders in the Final Four). However, I hear the rugby team is aces! (Billy’s going to go out for rugby, and I know he’s going to try to start a fencing team.) LOL
Regards,
Thanks, GIdget...that’s what I thought. For me, autonomy is paramount. If I owned a college, I’d probably forego the federal $$$ too.
Regards,
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