Old North News

On May 23, Governor Roy Cooper sent a letter to all state legislators in the House and Senate urging them to make meaningful investments in North Carolina’s public schools, students and teachers and stop their plans to dismantle public education by causing public schools to lose hundreds of millions of dollars through the expansion of private school vouchers, exacerbating the state’s teacher shortage and providing no substantive funding for early childhood education and child care.

“State legislators have a responsibility to make sure every child in North Carolina has the opportunity to get a high-quality education and the proposed plans by Republicans fall far short of getting it done,” said Governor Cooper. “The legislature must make meaningful investments in our public schools, students and teachers to continue our commitment to strong public education and historic economic development.” 

Governor Cooper has traveled across the state to visit public schools and highlight the series of sweeping legislation pushed by Republicans that would choke the life out of public education. The Governor has visited schools in New Hanover, Greene, Buncombe, Wake, Mecklenburg and Alamance Counties. 

The Governor’s letter outlined three main actions for legislators to protect public education.

Invest in teachers and early childhood education, not tax breaks and Opportunity Scholarships for the wealthy

Legislative Republicans put forth paltry salary increases for teachers that would worsen the teacher shortage. North Carolina already faces more than 5,000 teacher vacancies, leaving tens of thousands of students without a qualified educator and putting their success at extreme risk. Recruiting and retaining quality teachers is harder than ever and low pay is a significant reason why. 

While Governor Cooper proposed an 18% pay raise over two years for teachers, Senate Republicans proposed increasing veteran teachers’ salaries by only $250 spread over two years. House leaders are proposing an average teacher salary increase of 10% over two years – an increase that barely matches inflation.

Both the Senate and House budgets provide no meaningful support for critical early childhood education and child care. The Senate budget fails early learners, their families and businesses by providing no state funding for child care stabilization grants or the expansion of Smart Start or NC Pre-K. The House budget proposes only minimal funds to increase the childcare subsidy rate ($24 million beginning in FY2024-25) and for Smart Start ($10 million total for the biennium).

In addition, legislators are proposing an acceleration of tax cuts that are projected to cut North Carolina’s state budget by almost 20 percent —hamstringing the ability to fund public education now and in the future. 

Use public money for public schools, not private academies

Legislative Republicans propose pouring billions of dollars in taxpayer money into private schools that are unaccountable to the public and can decide which students they want to admit. Their plan would expand private school vouchers so anyone – even a millionaire – can get taxpayer money for their children’s private school tuition.

By expanding voucher eligibility to any K-12 student, our public schools, especially schools in rural and poorer counties, will face steep funding cuts, leaving schools without the resources to maintain fixed costs and support students.

North Carolina has zero evidence of student outcomes for those enrolled in the Opportunity Scholarship Program – the only program of its kind in the nation that doesn’t require rigorous evaluation of student performance. Research on private school voucher programs in Indiana, Ohio, Florida, and Washington, DC has shown that students who moved to private schools fell academically behind their peers who stayed in public school.

Professional educators and parents should determine curriculum, textbooks and lesson plans

Republican leaders want to inject their political culture wars into classrooms across North Carolina with bills that would put politicians in charge of curriculum setting, micromanage what teachers can teach, and target LGBTQ+ students. Legislation currently being considered, like House Bill 756 and Senate Bill 49, is pushing efforts that will undermine and politicize public education, demoralize and demonize educators, and drive a wedge in our communities.

Already, prominent Republicans have proposed eliminating core science classes and are pushing to rewrite history curriculums to fit a political agenda. Students need an education that prepares them for the workforce and success. North Carolina’s families, businesses and economy depend on it. Putting politicians in charge of the classroom is dangerous.

In a special address, Governor Cooper recently outlined sweeping legislation in the NC General Assembly that would choke the life out of public education. The Governor is calling on North Carolinians to visit governor.nc.gov to learn more and contact their legislators to ask them to protect public schools.

Watch the Governor’s address.

Read the Governor’s full remarks.

Learn more about North Carolina’s public education emergency.