Suit was filed in a North Carolina state trial court this week challenging North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program. The complaint (
full text) in
Kelly v. State of North Carolina, (NC Super. Ct., filed 7/27/2020), alleges that as implemented the Program violates various provisions of the North Carolina state Constitution. The complaint says in part:
2. The Program sends millions of taxpayer dollars to private schools without imposing any meaningful educational requirements. As implemented, many of the Program’s funds are directed to schools that divide communities on religious lines, disparage many North Carolinians’ faiths and identities, and coerce families into living under religious dictates.
3. The Program as implemented funds discrimination on the basis of religion. Families’ ability to participate in the Program is limited by their religious beliefs and their willingness to cede control of their faith to a religious school.
4. The Program as implemented funds schools that discriminate against students and parents based on who they love or the gender they know themselves to be, and against those with religious beliefs that do not condemn homosexuality, bisexuality, or gender non-conformity.
NCAE issued a
press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
AP reports on the lawsuit.
