A North Carolina House of Representatives committee Tuesday approved a bill that would expand private school voucher eligibility to everyone and boost spending on the vouchers by hundreds of millions of dollars.

House Bill 823, titled "Choose Your School, Choose Your Future," is the House version of a Senate bill that was heard last week. The Senate Bill has made it through its education committee.

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All 72 House Republicans are sponsors of the legislation. House Speaker Tim Moore and Rep. Tricia Cotham, of Mecklenburg County, who recently switched parties to give Republicans a veto-proof supermajority, are among the bill's primary sponsors.

"This bill allows parents to take charge of their children's education," Cotham said during the committee hearing. "We know that education is not one size fits all. And that type of modeling does not go with current society."

HB 823 would shift the private school voucher program, known as the Opportunity Scholarship, from targeting lower- and middle-income families to being available to anyone of any income.

The lowest-income families would be eligible for more than $7,400 — the same as what the state spends, on average, for every public school student — and the highest-income families would be eligible for 45% of that amount, closer to $3,300.

There is no income cap in the legislation.

Keisha Leonard, a member of the Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina parent liaison team, told the committee that her kindergarten daughter is an Opportunity Scholarship recipient.

"It means a lot to my family to be able to put her in private school," Leonard told the committee. "She's very artistic, and it'll be a great opportunity for us. ... Parents have the right to choose. I do believe that you as a parent should have the right to choose. and we are fighting for our children."

Under the legislation, students would no longer have to be public school students to qualify; they could be current private school or homeschool students.

The bill also boosts funding to more than $400 million and eventually to well more than $500 million by 2032.

Wyatt McGee, a father of an 11-year-old daughter, said an expansion of the program would be fair to middle-income families like his that pay to attend private school.

"We are paying our taxes like everyone else, but we're not getting any benefit," he said. "We're being required to pay double. We're having to pay our taxes plus tuition and books and everything else for our daughter to go to the school that will help her out."

The voucher bills have been debated along party lines and familiar refrains, but with Republicans holding super majorities in both chambers the bill is very likely to become law. Cotham called it the "greatest expansion of this program in state's history."

Republicans argue investment in private school vouchers provide some students a lifeline out of a public school that isn’t working for them.

"Families will have the opportunity to take charge of their child's education because I think parents know what is needed for their child," said Cotham, a supporter of school choice even before her party switch. "Many will remain in public schools. Many might choose charters. Many might want to choose a private school. But who are we to tell them that they only have one choice?"

Democrats argue the private schools aren’t accountable to progress and don’t have to accept every student and that investment in them is money that can be better spent on improving the public school system to better work for everyone. Public schools lose money for every student who leaves for a private school.

"It's going to devastate our public schools," said Rep. Julie von Haefen, a Wake County Democrat. "We have billions of dollars that we owe to fulfill our constitutional responsibility."

Rev. Suzanne Parker Miller, the executive director of Pastors for NC, called on lawmakers to "fund public education first" before considering expansion of the voucher program.

"The beauty and grace of public schools is that they must serve every single child who walks in their doors, regardless of disability or zip code or their family's income," she said. "Public schools build up our communities. Public schools ensure that every single child receives what they need to flourish."