At Temple Baptist School in West Asheville, students are taught homosexuality is a sin. In science, they learn how best to dismiss the theory of evolution in favor of Young Earth creationism, which asserts the world is at most 10,000 years old.

“What we do is based on the Bible as our foundation,” Brian Washburn, the school’s administrator, said. “So that's going to influence our approach to teaching all of our subject areas,”

A religious K-12 school, Temple Baptist is at liberty to teach a strict interpretation of scripture. Yet while it is private, most of the school’s 148 students pay tuition with the assistance of public funding.

Last year, 95 students enrolled at Temple Baptist through Opportunity Scholarships, public vouchers from the state (up to $4,200 per student) that qualifying families use to help cover private school costs. That's the most in Buncombe County, nearly four times more than the second-highest enrolling school.

This school year, more than 300 students applied for vouchers in Buncombe County, a total that has grown each of the past four years. The state approves most applications.

As Opportunity Scholarships expand across the county and state, critics fear the program increases accessibility to schools that promote nonscientific and exclusionary instruction.

“School should be a safe, affirming environment for all students, including LGBTQ students," said Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, executive director at the Campaign for Southern Equality, and also a Buncombe County commissioner. “Curriculum that in effect shames LGBTQ people for being who they are stokes a harmful and unnecessary hostility. Taxpayer funding should never be used to subsidize these kinds of lessons.”

The voucher argument

Last year, four of the top five voucher recipients in Buncombe County were religious schools. None accepted more public money through scholarships than Temple Baptist.

According to Washburn, the school accepted so much voucher money last year it was audited by the state.

“The scholarships have opened the door for some students who might not otherwise be able to come to attend our school,” he said.

Vouchers will keep expanding

In 2015, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled public tax dollars could be used to send children to private and religious schools. In his majority opinion, then-Chief Justice Mark Martin found no part of the voucher program to be “plainly and clearly prohibited by the constitution.”

Last school year across the state, private schools accepted 9,651 scholarships totaling $37.7 million, according to the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority. This record amount will continue to grow.

The state plans to invest an additional $10 million into its Opportunity Scholarship Program each year until 2028. According to the NCSEAA, parents have submitted more than 12,500 scholarship applications for the current school year. Within a decade, school choice advocacy organizations like Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina estimate the number of vouchers statewide will triple.

Proponents of Opportunity Scholarships hail the program's ability to give poorer families the same educational opportunities afforded to wealthier parents.

“The great thing about the scholarships is it puts low-income parents in the driver's seat,” said Coral Jefferies, founder of New City Christian School in Asheville.

Jefferies started New City to address the persistent gap in achievement between white and black students in local public districts.

Critics say the vouchers drain money out of already cash-strapped public schools.

“School vouchers are part of a larger movement to privatize public education,” Natalie Beyer, board member of Public Schools First NC, said. “They are diverting funds that would otherwise support public schools, especially with those with a high concentration of students of color, living in poverty and with special needs.”

Still others argue the most important consequence of vouchers is not monetary but ideological.

On sexuality and science

Around 65% of private schools in North Carolina are religious, but not all teach instruction that criticizes homosexuality and evolution. Still, some see using public money to support any instruction that goes against conventional science to be a major issue.

“Private, religious-affiliated schools may have the First Amendment right to their beliefs,” Beach-Ferrara said. “But that right alone does not entitle the school to public funding.”

In his 2014 book, “Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation," engineer and television personality Bill Nye wrote, “Frankly, my concern is not so much for the deniers of evolution as it is for their kids.

“We cannot address the problems facing humankind today without science — both the body of scientific knowledge and, more important, the process.”

In July, a Gallup survey found 40% of Americans believe in creationism.

Washburn is one of those Americans. “There's no proof of millions and millions of years,” he said of earth’s history (Based on the process of radiometric dating, scientific consensus estimates the world is about 4.5 billion years old.)

To meet North Carolina requirements for a private school, Temple Baptist administers standardized assessments on English and math.

In recent years, Washburn has seen an arrival of immigrant students from Russia and Ukraine who are attending via vouchers. The school's relatively low tuition, compared to other area private schools, means parents can use vouchers to pay the majority of Temple Baptist costs. Washburn says the school would like to increase its enrollment by another 25% in the future.

Washburn rejects the views of those who see danger in publicly funding a religious school like Temple Baptist.

“I pay property taxes just like everyone else in Buncombe County,” he said. “Why am I funding for your child to go to public school if you’re not willing to fund mine?”

In May, the state Senate passed a bill to allow families with higher incomes, up to $71,000 for a family of four, to use the public voucher program. The bill has yet to be taken up in the House.

Opportunity Scholarship program recipients

In 2018-19 in Buncombe County, these schools took vouchers: (IF TOTAL

Temple Baptist School, West Asheville - 95

Asheville Waldorf School, West Asheville - 26

Asheville-Pisgah Christian School, Candler - 24

Asheville Christian Academy, Swannanoa - 23

Reynolds Mountain Christian Academy - 23

Source: NC State Education Assistance Authority