right now thousands of families are stuck on a wait list not knowing if the state's going to pay for their child to go to private school this is all part of the state Voucher Program Republicans want to expand it again proposing more than $460 million in funding Democratic leaders on the other hand came out today to try and stop that expansion from happening wr's Monica Casey joining us live right now right now Monica give us an idea as to why Democrats want to focus on this well we know that state legislators will be back here next week and the schedule has not yet been released however Democrats say Republicans will be using that time to expand this Voucher Program Democrats say that money would be better spent on public schools with a school voucher wait list of more than 50,000 students parents are calling on legislators to expand the program we applaud your school CH efforts the lowest income applicants and all renewals from last year were awarded vouchers but with no income cap for opportunity scholarships the money ran out for new voucher applicants Democrats say republican efforts to expand the program will have a negative impact the long-term effects of this scam will lead to a crisis North Carolina governor Roy Cooper says expanding the school voucher program is not only only a fiscal issue but a moral one I am against taking taxpayer money out of the public schools and giving it to the private schools when our Public Schools already have so many needs Democratic leaders argue the program hurts rural counties state Senator Michael Garrett says there aren't enough voucher schools to make a difference in those areas more taxpayer funded voucher money is being funneled into just two counties just two counties wake and mecklinburg then into the bottom 70% of North Carolina counties combined we reached out to Republican leadership about these claims in a statement the ncgop communications director said quote Roy Cooper's sad assault on school choice continues with his latest comments it's clear that Republicans are the party of quality education for all students in our state Democrats say the plan could cost $25 million this year that's 400 million more than it cost last year they argue all of that money would be better spent in public schools instead live in Raleigh Monica casy wrl news