Last week the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which gives vouchers to low-income families to help pay for their children to attend private schools, was constitutional.

Supporters hailed the decision as a step in the right direction for education, giving parents the power to determine the education their child will receive, instead of leaving it up to the public school system.

But while the vouchers may help some low-income families, this money could have been used for public schools that hold many more of these children from low-income families. It’s a blow to public schools.

Beaufort County needs the state’s help with its public schools, not with its private schools. These vouchers only help a small part of the population, and while that assistance can’t be discounted, it is important to remember all the other children being put at a disadvantage in this situation.

According to the county’s website, the median household income for the period of 2007 to 2011 was a little less than $41,000. Per capita income for the same time period was about $23,200, with 19.1 percent of the county’s population living below the poverty line.

If the public school system was decently funded in this state, then there would be no problem with the vouchers. But public schools need all the money they can get. The state needs to fix those schools before they try to funnel students to the “better,” private schools.

Parents should have some say about what kind of education their child is receiving, but legislators are hiding behind that ideology, so they can essentially jump off a sinking ship.

Legislators weren’t elected to throw up their hands and bail on the residents of North Carolina. They were elected to plug the leak and keep the ship from sinking. Ultimately, the state owes that effort to the vast majority of kids still in public schools.