Fact check: Where Kevin Crutchfield & April Cook stand on private school vouchers
North Carolina’s private-school voucher program has grown into one of the state’s most prominent education topics, with lawmakers expanding access to families across the income spectrum and directing more state money toward scholarships.
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That expansion has emphasized a longstanding divide over how the state should spend education dollars. Supporters say vouchers give parents more choices about where their children attend school, while opponents argue the program needs tighter limits and oversight and that state resources should instead be concentrated on public schools.
In Senate District 34, which covers most of Cabarrus County, Republican Kevin Crutchfield and Democrat April Cook have different perspectives on the debate.
Cook says families should have educational options but opposes North Carolina’s current universal voucher system. She supports restoring income limits for Opportunity Scholarships, strengthening accountability requirements for participating private schools and directing more state education funding toward public schools, according to her campaign website.
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Crutchfield has supported expanding private-school choice, including voting in 2023 to expand North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship program. In a candidate questionnaire, he said he supported allowing parents to use vouchers for private school but added that the program “has to have limitations on it” so public schools are not undermined.
The debate over school choice has become a flashpoint in the Senate District 34 campaign. The North Carolina Senate Majority Fund, which is supporting Crutchfield, sent Cabarrus County voters mailers attacking Cook over her opposition to the Opportunity Scholarship program. Cook alleged the mailers were created with AI after they used edited images of her and one incorrectly identified her as “Rachel Cook,” while the group defended the substance of its message and said Cook should instead explain her position on school choice.
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