In Op-Ed, Public School Teacher Lauren Piner Says “Josh Stein Has Shown Up Time And Again” For Students While Mark Robinson “Is An Existential Threat” to Public Schools

In a new op-ed published by The Daily Reflector, Pitt County teacher Lauren Piner discusses how her experiences in North Carolina’s public schools have led to her support for Attorney General Josh Stein for Governor.

Piner writes that when it comes to fighting for North Carolina’s students, Josh Stein has shown up. He’s worked to settle the Leandro case and deliver a sound education for every child. He’s proposed stipends for teachers to buy back-to-school supplies, which Piner says “would be a game-changer” for herself and her students. As the former president of the Pitt County Association of Educators, Piner says that “for many of my colleagues, it’s an easy choice – because Attorney General Josh Stein has shown up time and again.”

Meanwhile, Piner says Stein’s opponent, Mark Robinson, “is an existential threat to North Carolina public schools.” She points to Robinson’s comments demonizing teachers, proposals to eliminate social studies and science from elementary schools, and most dangerous of all, his threat to defund North Carolina schools to the tune of a billion dollars per year. Piner says this plan would be catastrophic for students and teachers alike, causing the layoff of 6,400 teachers. 

Piner understands firsthand that many of our public schools are struggling. With hundreds of millions of public dollars being sent to private schools and a teacher vacancy crisis, she says “there’s a reason one in nine teachers left the profession in the state last year.” However, she believes “it’s not too late to turn the ship around,” which “starts with having political leaders who truly believe and invest in our public schools.” 

With a clear choice facing North Carolina this November, Piner says she never wants politics “to be the reason that one of my students can’t dream big.” That’s why she’s casting a vote for Josh Stein – “for all my students’ futures.”

Read Piner’s op-ed here.