Latest news with #voucherprogram
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Montreal public market teams up with community organizations to tackle food insecurity
Austin Ola-Daniels was making the most of his Saturday morning, browsing the stalls at his local farmer's market in east end Montreal. With a huge smile on his face, Ola-Daniels showed off his food coupon card — a recurring voucher provided to vulnerable people or families who are facing food insecurity. "I love this card, it's been so helpful to my family," Ola-Daniels said. The new Montrealer arrived with his family from Nigeria just one year ago. He says he uses his card to supplement his family's needs. The voucher system is part of a new program being offered at the Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market in partnership with three local community organizations, each with a different clientele base, that will run all summer long. Ola-Daniels was referred by Aide aux Immigrants à Montréal, an organization that helps immigrants and refugees in the city. WATCH | This Montreal public market is using its services to support those in need: This Montreal public market is using its services to support those in need 17 minutes ago Duration 2:07 The Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market, in partnership with community organizations, has started a program that will give nearly 100 households vouchers to use at the market for fresh produce. The voucher program allows those living in precarious situations to buy fresh food and produce without worrying about the cost using a prepaid, rechargeable card. Kate Johansson, the executive director of the Pointe-aux-Trembles Public Market, explained that the amount on the card varies according to household size, with single people getting $50 a month, a couple $75, and $100 for a family of three. Any household with more than four people gets $125 worth of goods per month. Ola-Daniels said he and his wife were astonished to be given a "credit card." "She was so happy," Ola-Daniels said of his wife, when he explained they could buy anything they wanted. For Johansson, that's what the food voucher program is about. She says giving people a choice of what they buy helps foster a sense of agency and dignity. "Most of the people that are coming here with the coupon program are from the food bank," Johansson said. "So they typically don't have the choice of their produce or any product that they have." Program expands to include 210 people from 95 different households The program started as a pilot project last year and served 50 households. Building on that success, it has now been expanded to include 210 people from 95 different households. The need for food assistance programs in the city, however, continues to grow as people struggle to make ends meet amid the rising cost of living and a housing crisis. In its 2024 Hunger Count, Moisson Montreal said community agencies in Montreal fulfilled close to one million requests for food assistance every month, in what it called an "alarming record." Food banks in the city have been vocal about feeling the strain and in many cases have had to turn people away. The food voucher program is seen locally as another alternative. "It's obviously not solving all the problems and the amount on the card is not enough to do a full grocery," Johansson said. "It's really just to complement the offer of the food bank." The summer program started last week and Ola-Daniels said he's bought some vegetables, bread and was even able to treat his children to some pizza from the market. "The pizza is, wow, good," he exclaimed, adding his kids were very appreciative. Ola-Daniels agreed with Johansson that the card helps with additional needs the family might have. "Without the voucher card maybe things we have at home are finished, then we have to use our own money to go and buy it back, but we are using the voucher card to get it," he said. "So it's an advantage for us." Organizers are hoping that one day there will be a universal food coupon program that can be used all year round at any farmers market in Quebec. Johansson said the initiative doesn't just help those facing food insecurity, but the community as a whole. It helps strengthen community ties by bringing together people in one place who wouldn't necessarily meet otherwise, she said.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
With income cap gone, New Hampshire families rush to apply for school vouchers
Roughly 9,000 families have either completed or started an application for an Education Freedom Account since Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed the law removing the income cap. (File photo by Annmarie Timmins/New Hampshire Bulletin) Well before Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a bill last month to make New Hampshire education freedom accounts available to all income levels, school choice supporters were preparing to get the word out. On June 10, Ayotte signed Senate bill 295, and a multi-prong awareness campaign kicked into gear. The conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity NH dispatched social media ads informing New Hampshire residents that the previous income cap on the voucher-like program had been eliminated. Supportive state senators like Victoria Sullivan, the Manchester Republican who authored the bill, began directing interested constituents to the sign-up portal for the program, which allows New Hampshire residents to receive state funds toward public and private school expenses. And the Children's Scholarship Fund, the nonprofit organization that administers the education freedom accounts, blasted emails to every parent, school and provider currently participating in the program to tell them about the change. The awareness campaigns worked. Within a week of Ayotte signing the bill, the Children's Scholarship Fund had seen 2,000 additional people apply, according to the Concord Monitor. 'I got inundated with emails,' Sullivan said in an interview with the Bulletin. 'It just became impossible to actually respond to everybody individually. So I used X and my Facebook page to give people the information as to where they could go to fill out the application.' Ayotte signs universal EFA bill, parental bill of rights And as of July 2, about 9,000 families have either completed or started an application for an education freedom account, Kate Baker Demers, the executive director of the fund, said last week. Not all of those families will finish and turn in those applications, Baker Demers said. But the numbers suggest the program could exceed lawmakers' estimates of 7,500 students in the program next school year. For newly eligible families, there was incentive to move quickly. While the law removes the income limits for the program, which previously sat at 350% of the federal poverty level, lawmakers included an annual cap on enrollees to mitigate some of the anticipated costs. That cap applied to families making more than 350%; the sooner those families submitted an application, the sooner they could guarantee themselves a spot. Supporters of the program say the large surge in interest validates the Legislature's push to make the program open to all income levels. But Democrats, who have opposed the education freedom account program from the beginning, say the preliminary numbers show that the program is already likely to exceed its budget. Democrats vociferously opposed Sullivan's bill during the session, arguing that people in higher income brackets should not receive state support for private schools. 'The voucher scam proponents really underestimated the impact on purpose, I think, deliberately to deceive legislators to vote for the bill and to deceive Granite Staters,' said Rep. David Luneau, a Hopkinton Democrat. Report: New Hampshire's public school state spending levels lowest in U.S. As part of making the program universal, lawmakers imposed a 10,000 student cap in the program's first year, though a number of categories of students are not subject to that cap. It is unclear whether the state will hit that cap this year, though Baker Demers is dubious. She has predicted 8,500 voucher recipients in the coming school year once all applications are submitted and approved. Supporters of the program say the large number of applications this summer are a reflection of the high number of families who wanted to use education freedom accounts but were just barely outside of the income limits. Sullivan said many parents of children with disabilities, who have been dissatisfied with the individualized education plans at their public school, have expressed excitement at the opportunity to explore alternative options with some state funding. 'I knew there were a lot of families that were just outside of the income cap last time, but there have been a lot of families with kids in special education that are not having their needs met in the public school that have reached out to me about it,' she said. 'So that part was surprising to me.' And Sarah Scott, field director of Americans For Prosperity NH, said the removal of the income limit could also be a boon for single parents. 'Single parents often have rough lives and the kids have struggled,' she said. '…A lot of those families weren't eligible because when you look at 350% of the federal poverty line for a family of two ($74,025), it's very low.' While the outreach in the last month has been relatively successful, proponents say many eligible families still likely do not know about the program. Scott said the online ads, for which the organization has paid about $10,000 so far, are designed to reach families who may not follow state politics closely enough to know about the change. 'I think that prior to June 10, most of the families that were aware of the program were the people that are following what's going on in their town in local politics,' she said. 'Now I think we're definitely seeing more and more of those families that are so wrapped up in, you know, driving their kids to afternoon sports, taking them to tutoring or you know Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.' Sullivan added that though she is a believer in the education freedom accounts, which her children have received, private school or homeschooling may not be the right choice for many families. 'I don't think it's a program for every family,' she said. 'A lot of families are happy with their public schools, and I wouldn't want to be pushing people into an education that wasn't right for them.' The total tally of education freedom account students in the 2025 to 2026 school year will not be known for months. Families are allowed to apply throughout the year, but the bulk of applications happen before mid July. The Department of Education releases a report based on those numbers in November. Luneau says he and other Democrats will continue to campaign against the education freedom accounts to turn voters against the idea of giving state funds to wealthy families. How wealthy those families are will not be clear. The families who say they are above the 350% poverty level do not need to submit income verification, or state their income at all. And Luneau says he would also like more accountability over where the money is going and how the program vendors are approved. 'This is a program that very quickly is going to be over $100 million a year, over a billion bucks — billion with a capital B — over a 10-year period,' Luneau said. 'And that's a billion dollars that isn't going to be helping cities and towns or reducing property taxes. Essentially it's a billion dollars that is going to be sitting on top of everyone's property taxes.' Baker Demers and Scott counter that demand for the program will likely level out, and they say the state will be able to sustain the funding levels. 'I think that in the first couple of weeks, there's always a lot of talk about it,' she said. '…But over the course of the next year, I think a lot of the families that really want to take advantage of it will be aware of it and will already have taken the steps to do that.'SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private schools reaping benefits of NC's voucher law expansion
Private schools in Chatham, Harnett, Lee and Moore counties benefited from an expansion of North Carolina's public voucher Opportunity Scholarship law. The expansion, which went into effect prior to the 2024-2025 school year, did away with a limit on how much a family makes in order to qualify for tuition vouchers from the state. Information about private schools' voucher funding was provided Thursday by Public Schools First NC, a non-profit organization committed to informing and educating North Carolinians about policies affecting public schools. In 2022-23, the largest cohort of voucher recipients in the state attended Grace Christian School in Sanford, garnering the school over $3 million. WUNC reports that after the income limit was removed, Grace Christian required for the first time that all students apply for the Opportunity Scholarships. Grace Christian saw a bump from $3.07 million to $5.13 million from the 2023-24 to 2024-2025 school years. That $2 million difference represents a 67% increase. Lee Christian School also saw a 67% increase, going from $1.1 million to $1.83 million in voucher funds for those two years. Calvary Education Center in Lemon Springs went from $114,932 to $272,020, a difference of 137%. Carolina Christian Academy declined 10% from $70,302 to $63,214. CHATHAM Thales Academy of Pittsboro went from $145,620 to $1.1 million, a whopping increase of 665%. Haw River Christian Academy, northwest of Pittsboro, jumped from $121,983 to $545,715, a difference of 347%. Jordan Lake School of the Arts, north of Wilsonville, increased 156% from $22,722 to $58,252. Holy Youth Christian Academy, which is in northern Chatham, south of Chapel Hill, saw a 9% increase, going from $399,616 to $433,884. HARNETT Cape Fear Christian Academy, northwest of Erwin, increased 94%, going from $751,152 to $1.46 million. Brookside Christian Academy in Dunn increased 69%, going from $691,187 to $1.16 million. Faith Education Academy, southwest of Dunn, went from $225,811 to $314,395, a difference of 39%. Miracle Tabernacle Academy, between Anderson Creek and Spring Lake, went from $379,840 to $426,580, a difference of 12%. MOORE O'Neal School in Southern Pines increased from $874,315 to $1.48 million, a difference of 381%. Episcopal Day School in Southern Pines increased 316%, going from $97,380 to $404,913. St. John Paul II Catholic School in Southern Pines increased 189%, going from $357,060 to $1.03 million. Covenant Preparatory School in Southern Pines went from $129,813 to $351,050, a difference of 170%. Father Vincent Capodanno High School, southwest of Vass, went from $100,626 to $216,198, a difference of 115%. Fellowship Christian Academy, southeast of Carthage, went from $384,803 to $803,408, a difference of 109%. ADVOCACY The nonprofit wants to raise public awareness about public funds being directed from public to private schools. In an email, Phillip J. Kirk, who served as chair of the N.C. State Board of Education from 1997-2003, said he supports school choice. 'Poor children deserve the opportunity to get a quality education when the traditional public schools fail them,' he said. 'Liberal policies are responsible for school choice growing in popularity. This growth will continue with strong Republican support.' The expansion eliminated the family income limit, which was $57,720 for a family of four in 2023-24. The voucher program started in the 2014-15 school year. Meanwhile, the Sanford Area Growth Alliance (SAGA) is raising funds for public school teachers, including pens, pencils, dry erase markers, notebooks, etc. The deadline to contribute is July 17, according to a June 25 email. For more information about that effort, email sgomez@ Data from Public Schools First NC shows the ethnic/racial breakdown of students served by the vouchers as follows: 63% white, 19% black and 11% Hispanic, among others. At least eight private schools raised their tuition to the exact amount of the full Opportunity Scholarship following the expansion, according to WUNC. In 2024-25, the voucher limit per student was $7,468.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Hampshire enacts universal school choice, joining other states across the US
New Hampshire officially joined over a dozen states in the nation to enact universal school choice on Tuesday. Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law an expansion of New Hampshire's school voucher program, removing the income eligibility restrictions that had defined the program during its first four years. "Giving parents the freedom to choose the education setting that best fits their child's needs will help every student in our state reach their full potential," Ayotte said. "I'm proud to sign this into law today along with the Parental Bill of Rights, which ensures parents are the central voice in their children's education. I thank the House and Senate for working to get these across the finish line." President Of Largest Teachers Union In Us Defends Illegal Immigrants During Anti-ice Protest In La The Granite State's school voucher program allows any family to receive at least $4,265 per child next school year to spend on educational expenses, including private school tuition or tutoring. The program provides families of children with additional needs of up to a maximum of $9,676 per year in taxpayer funds. Prior to the bill being signed by Ayotte, less than half of students in the northeastern state were eligible for the school voucher program. Read On The Fox News App Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project, told Fox News Digital that "the teachers unions really stepped in it by fighting to keep schools closed during the COVID era." Trump Admin To Probe Illinois School Over Allegations Girls Were Forced To Change In Front Of Trans Student "New Hampshire is the 17th state to pass universal school choice in the past four years. The wind is at our backs and the momentum for education freedom is unstoppable. We have a state that went for Kamala Harris in November now going all-in on school choice. Putting parents in the driver's seat should be a nonpartisan issue – kids don't belong to the government – but the Democrat Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the teachers unions," DeAngelis said. New Hampshire is the latest state to pass universal school choice, joining a trend of states with Republican trifectas expanding education options for children. New Hampshire is the first state that passed the legislation that went for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024. Arizona became the first state to offer universal school choice for all families in 2022, launching an $800 million program that gives parents $7,000 to put toward their children's article source: New Hampshire enacts universal school choice, joining other states across the US
Fox News
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
New Hampshire enacts universal school choice, joining other states across the US
New Hampshire officially joined over a dozen states in the nation to enact universal school choice on Tuesday. Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed into law an expansion of New Hampshire's school voucher program, removing the income eligibility restrictions that had defined the program during its first four years. "Giving parents the freedom to choose the education setting that best fits their child's needs will help every student in our state reach their full potential," Ayotte said. "I'm proud to sign this into law today along with the Parental Bill of Rights, which ensures parents are the central voice in their children's education. I thank the House and Senate for working to get these across the finish line." The Granite State's school voucher program allows any family to receive at least $4,265 per child next school year to spend on educational expenses, including private school tuition or tutoring. The program provides families of children with additional needs of up to a maximum of $9,676 per year in taxpayer funds. Prior to the bill being signed by Ayotte, less than half of students in the northeastern state were eligible for the school voucher program. Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project, told Fox News Digital that "the teachers unions really stepped in it by fighting to keep schools closed during the COVID era." "New Hampshire is the 17th state to pass universal school choice in the past four years. The wind is at our backs and the momentum for education freedom is unstoppable. We have a state that went for Kamala Harris in November now going all-in on school choice. Putting parents in the driver's seat should be a nonpartisan issue – kids don't belong to the government – but the Democrat Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the teachers unions," DeAngelis said. New Hampshire is the latest state to pass universal school choice, joining a trend of states with Republican trifectas expanding education options for children. New Hampshire is the first state that passed the legislation that went for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024. Arizona became the first state to offer universal school choice for all families in 2022, launching an $800 million program that gives parents $7,000 to put toward their children's tuition.
