Rep. Tricia Cotham made some inaccurate statements during Tuesday’s State House debate on expanding private school voucher funding over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.

Cotham, a Mecklenburg County Republican, argued that expanding the Opportunity Scholarship program is necessary because the “majority” of public schools in North Carolina are rated D or F. He also claimed that the “majority” of families seeking private school vouchers were from the lowest economic status.

Cotham leaving the Democratic Party in 2023 It gave Republicans a supermajority in the House to override Cooper’s vetoes. HE narrowly re-elected this year.

parliament passed veto override of coupon invoice on Tuesday. If the Senate also overrides Cooper, House Bill 10 would become law and provide an additional $463 million to clear the waiting list of more than 50,000 students seeking Opportunity Scholarships.

Let’s take a deeper look at some of the statements Cotham made in the House of Representatives on Tuesday and whether they are true.

The poorest candidates are not in the minority

“We’re not saying this is all for rich kids,” Cotham said. “This is actually not true. The majority of these children are in Tier 1, which is the highest amount.

“Residents will be in Mecklenburg and Wake County. You are wrong when others talk about rich people and billionaires.”

Applicants were divided into four tiers, with Tier 1 being families earning the lowest incomes.

As of Sept. 2, a government report shows Tier 1 applicants made up 11,315 of 67,986 eligible applicants, or 16.6%. Each Tier 1 applicant was offered an Opportunity Scholarship of $7,468 per student.

Tier 1 students make up 82% of new scholarship recipients so far because the NC State Education Assistance Agency has run out of money. However, when money is given to the 54,132 students on the waiting list, the share of Tier 1 students will decrease.

Are the families on the waiting list rich?

How many of the families on the waiting list are wealthy is subjective. Over 71% of waitlisted students are in Tier 3 and Tier 4. Neither tier would have been eligible before this year because they made so much money.

Tier 3 for a family of four consists of annual income between $115,440 and $259,740. Tier 3 accounts for 48.5% of people on the waiting list and 39% of all applicants.

Tier 4 annual income for a family of four is more than $259,740. Tier 4 makes up 22.9% of the waiting list and 18% of all applicants.

During floor debate, Democrats said Tier 3 and 4 families should not receive public money to cover private school tuition.

“We’re spending this money on private school vouchers for affluent families who can already afford to send their kids to these schools and probably can afford to send them anyway,” said Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat. “Three-quarters of people receiving funds from these vouchers earn more than $115,000 per year, and one-quarter earn more than $259,000 per year.”

There are no D or F grades in most public schools

Cotham argued Tuesday that school choice is necessary because “there are so many kids who are stranded and failing in public schools.”

“We have a majority of public schools rated Ds and Fs,” Cotham also said.

North Carolina public schools receive a performance grade from A to F each year based largely on the percentage of students who pass state tests. Last academic year 33.5% of schools had D or F grades.

The majority of schools (38.8%) had a C grade in the 2023-24 school year. A total of 27.8% of schools received an A or B grade.