HB 10: A Threat to Our Public Schools and Immigrant Families

This week, our state’s legislature came back into session to fast-track HB 10 and expand the bill beyond its original intent. When filed, HB 10 was an egregious attempt to target immigrant families and communities by forcing local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration policies. Instead of ensuring that immigrant families are safe and protected, HB 10 would increase the financial burden on our municipal governments and endanger immigrants by making them live in a constant state of fear for their families and livelihood, bringing harm to all our communities.

In the newly released version of HB 10, our elected officials added some critical budget allocations but funneled millions of dollars from public schools to private school vouchers. Some components of this bill that should concern every North Carolinian:

• Funneling Local Public School Funding to Unaccountable Private Schools: In its expanded form, HB 10 doubles down on the irresponsible funding scheme that siphons money from local public schools to fund private school tuition vouchers, with no accountability or reporting requirements for the private schools receiving funds. Meanwhile, our state is still failing to fund public schools at a level that would support our children’s educational success and give educators the raises and resources they deserve.
• Hiding Negotiations and Blocking the Public Process: House and Senate leaders hid negotiations behind closed doors, allowing special interests and the wealthy elite to drive policy in the bill and eliminating North Carolina taxpayers’ chance to make their voice heard. Additionally, as a conference report, HB 10 can no longer be amended. There is no path to change the bill’s language, even if legislators agree that changes are necessary. 
• Harmful Revenue Decisions: Our state’s legislators have not fully allocated the resources we have available to support the well-being of our communities. The adjustments presented in HB 10 leave over $100 million that could be utilized to improve our local public schools, address our state’s housing crisis, support the needs of communities impacted by environmental injustice and health inequities, and many other priorities that North Carolinians have highlighted repeatedly. 

This bill has already passed the Senate with a vote of 27-17 and will go to the House chamber this week. 

We must stand against this harmful legislation and reject the extremist future its authors are designing for our state: a future where working families no longer have free access to local public schools and where immigrant families live in fear of being targeted by law enforcement. We urge you to take action now by contacting your House Representatives and urging them to vote NO on HB 10 later this week.