Education Matters – Voucher School Controversy

Topic: Voucher School Controversy

Trinity Christian School in Fayetteville has received more taxpayer dollars via the state’s private school voucher program than any other school in the state. It’s also home to an embezzlement scandal involving a teacher who runs the school’s elite basketball program while spending weekends in jail. We take a closer look at the controversy and talk to the state agency that oversees the voucher program. 

Guests Include:

Lindsay Wagner, Senior Writer, Public School Forum of NC

Kathryn Marker, Director of Grants Training and Outreach, North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority

Rep. Billy Richardson (D-Cumberland)

RESOURCES

Edlines

Single School Selected for ISD
https://www.robesonian.com/news/104417/schools-preparing-response-to-isd-inclusion
https://www.wral.com/state-board-selects-robeson-county-school-for-innovative-school-district/17085268/

School Finance Reform Task Force Kicks Off
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article182012456.html
https://www.ednc.org/2017/11/02/education-funding-study-committee-gets-underway/

GOP Tax Plan Targets Education Deductions
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article182640616.html
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Republican-Tax-Proposal-Gets/241662
https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2017/11/under_gop_bill_teachers_would_lose_%24250_tax_deduction_classroom_materials.html?cmp=eml-enl-eu-news2&M=58262588&U=2332817

Interview segments

Out of Bounds: Embezzlement and Basketball at North Carolina’s Biggest Voucher School
|https://www.ncforum.org/out-of-bounds-embezzlement-and-basketball-at-north-carolinas-biggest-voucher-school/

Coach from Trinity Christian School in Fayetteville pleads guilty to embezzlement
https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20170628/coach-from-trinity-christian-school-in-fayetteville-pleads-guilty-to-embezzlement

Employee of North Carolina’s largest voucher school pleads guilty to embezzling nearly $400,000 in state funds over eight years
https://ajf.org/employee-north-carolinas-largest-voucher-school-pleads-guilty-embezzling-nearly-400000-state-funds-eight-years/

SHARE CLIPS FROM THIS EPISODE

WATCH PREVIOUS EPISODES