ARCHDALE, N.C. — For Leslie Wells and her husband, school choice has always been important.

Their oldest, before going to college, attended a public middle and high school.

“He went to one of our local early colleges, and it really helped him out in college to get ahead, he was just a really good fit,” Wells said.

What You Need To Know

  • The Opportunity Scholarship program expanded last legislative session

  • Republican lawmakers have spoken about adding more funding to the program this session

  • Opponents say taxpayer funds shouldn't go to private schools that don't have same oversight

  • They say the money should be invested in public schools across the state

Now their two other boys are in a private K-12 school in their area. Wells said she thinks they could have also done fine in private school, but with different needs, she and her husband wanted something different.

That decision has paid off for all of them.

“We're a little bit older now, and it's nice to have a school that enforces our belief system, and honestly, both of my kids come home feeling so loved every day,” Wells said.

Wells and her husband both work extra hours, she said, to keep up with all three of their children’s education costs.

They heard about the Opportunity Scholarship, but then found out they didn’t qualify.

The program takes state dollars and provides vouchers for families to ease the cost of sending their children to a private school.

Opponents say taxpayer funds shouldn’t be going to private schools, especially when they don’t have the same oversight as public ones.

Instead, they said, that money should be to invest in public schools, making them the best options for students across North Carolina.

Last year the Wells family heard that the legislature would expand the program with Republican lawmakers saying a voucher would be available to every family in the state who wanted one.

“We began to really get excited, because that could mean that, like, I could, my husband works a lot and I work a lot, and it may mean that we can work a little bit less,” Wells said. “And when I say a lot, like I mean lots of hours of overtime just to make sure that we could pay for these schools.”

Of the four tiers of income levels, only the first received vouchers, with families in the other four being left out.

Wells said it wasn’t entirely surprising but still disappointing.

She is one of many families across the state hoping to see more funding go into the program this short legislative session.

They have no plans to move their children from the school but are hoping for some financial reprieve.

“Every single year has been a wonderful year for him, and I just cannot bear the thought of taking him out of a situation where he is so loved and so happy and, yeah, so it's really important to us, and important enough that we make the sacrifices we need to keep them there,” Wells said.