Old North News

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency after a school choice bill passed the state House last week, even though the governor sent his own child to a private school, Corey DeAngelis, senior fellow at the American Federation for Children pointed out.

"BREAKING: North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declares a STATE OF EMERGENCY to fight against school choice," DeAngelis said on Twitter. "This hypocrite sent his own kid to a private school. We're freeing families from the clutches of the teachers unions once and for all & there's nothing he can do about it."

Following the successful passage of H.B. 823, a bill focused on expanding school choice, by the North Carolina House last week, Cooper declared a state of emergency and intends to prevent the bill from becoming law, arguing that it would have detrimental effects on North Carolina schools, according to Fox News.

House Bill 823 would grant scholarship vouchers to students from kindergarten to twelfth grade, regardless of age, based on their household income, Fox 8 reported. The bill outlines various income thresholds, with students below the threshold receiving 100% of the scholarship amount, while those from households exceeding 450% of the threshold would receive 45% of the scholarship, according to Fox 8.

After weeks of debates, the bill was extensively discussed during a three-hour meeting and ultimately approved with a 65-45 vote, Fox 8 said. Democrats mainly opposed the bill, arguing that it would redirect vital funding from public schools. The majority of Republicans supported the bill, with Fox 8 reporting that only one Democrat voted in favor.

"If I *were* the Governor of NC, I would've been declaring a state of emergency when the state was in the bottom third of states reopening schools and depriving children of the education they needed, not once parents got involved and demanded something better for their kids," Rory Cooper, Purple Strategies partner said on Twitter. "Not once parents got involved and demanded something better for their kids."          

"Once again, we see leaders in government telling you that they know what's best for your child," former North Carolina lieutenant governor Mark Robinson said on Twitter. "Our Governor has gone so far as to use the words 'state of emergency' as a political prop. However, words like this weren't said when Democrats had control of the legislature and teachers were receiving pay cuts and being furloughed. Our Republican legislature is allowing families to chart their own educational destinies because they know what their children need better than a bureaucrat. #ncpol"