Josh Stein Calls For Investments In Public Schools, While Republicans Are “Undermining” Them

As the school year comes to a close, Attorney General and candidate for governor Josh Stein is urging the legislature to ensure “kids have the opportunity to succeed, not mak[e] it harder for them to compete” and calling for raised teacher pay, investment in North Carolina’s schools to “help our kids prepare for the jobs of tomorrow,” and increased support staff to aid students struggling with mental health issues.

Meanwhile, Republicans like Mark Robinson, who are “hostile to public education” and “thrilled” with efforts to give tax breaks to millionaires and divert taxpayer dollars to unaccountable private schools, are “starving” opportunities for North Carolina students and harming the strength of our state’s future workforce. While Robinson and his colleagues continue “undermining” public education, Stein will fight for strong schools because he knows it’s an “investment that will pay off for our kids down the road.” 

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Mooresville Tribune: A ‘Thank You’ to North Carolina’s Teachers

• Ms. Dalton. Mr. Charles. Mr. Stuart. These are just three of the teachers who had an important impact on my life. Every one of us knows the impact teachers have as they pour encouragement, knowledge, and support into us and the students we love.

• Earlier this month, we celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week, but as the school year comes to a close, I’d like to take more time to recognize the important work done by educators each and every day.

• We all appreciate our teachers, but for too long, our state legislature has failed to put our money where our mouths are. Governor Cooper recently sounded the alarm on the underinvestment in public education, and he’s right. We need to be ensuring that all our kids have the opportunity to succeed, not making it harder for them to compete.

• We have to pay our teachers more. Right now, North Carolina ranks 46th in the country in beginning teacher pay. Our teachers should not have to worry about making ends meet or finding a second job to support themselves and their families. Investing in our teachers means investing in the future of our state.

• We have to fund our schools. North Carolina ranks 48th in the country for adjusted per pupil spending. Our students have a guaranteed right under our state’s Constitution to a sound, basic education. Instead of proposals that defund public education, let’s invest in our schools to help our kids prepare for the jobs of tomorrow.

• We must hire more support staff. Too many of our kids are in a mental health crisis. Every school in North Carolina needs professionals on-site who can help them – including school nurses and counselors – and we simply do not have enough.

• Even with all these challenges facing our educators, there is magic happening in classrooms all across this state. North Carolina is a great state full of dedicated and talented teachers. Let’s support them by giving them the pay and respect that they deserve. It’s an investment that will pay off for our kids down the road.

News & Observer: Republicans are gaslighting North Carolina about the threat to public schools | Opinion

• Republican lawmakers have increased school funding, but they’re still starving the schools. And with vouchers they’ll effectively take money from public schools. 

• An exhaustive analysis as part of the Leandro school funding case found that the state needed to spend $8 billion more over eight years to provide all North Carolina students with what the state constitution promises – a sound basic education. Republican lawmakers have balked at paying that amount despite a court order to do so. Now they want to step up spending on private school vouchers to nearly a half-billion dollars by 2031. That will enable students – and the state funding that goes with them – to leave public schools. 

• Nationally, North Carolina ranks near the bottom in per-pupil spending and teacher salaries. In terms of effort – the amount spent on public schools as a percent of the state GDP – North Carolina ranks dead last, according to the Education Law Center. Danielle Farrie, the center’s research director, told me, “Instead of diverting money to costly voucher schemes, North Carolina needs to step up its last-in-the-nation effort and fund its public schools at the levels that students both need and deserve.”

• No, Gov. Cooper is not imagining the threat. Republican lawmakers really are trying to turn out the lights in public schools by turning up the gaslighting in public debate.

Triad City Beat: EDITORIAL: A coordinated attack on NC public schools

• Gov. Roy Cooper sounded the alarm last week: a state of emergency in our public schools, brought on by new, ostensibly veto-proof legislation that would further decimate our schools.

• Cooper said the expanded voucher program espoused by Senate leadership will “siphon a little over $3 billion from the General Fund” by allowing parents in any income bracket to claim a state subsidy on private education for their children.

• The state of our public schools can be ascertained from the Leandro case, a 1994 decision insisting on the need for more funding from the state, one that has survived decades of challenges and appeals without being fulfilled. The previous NC Supreme Court issued an order in November 2022 demanding an additional $1.75 billion for public schools, which the new Supreme Court quashed in March of this year.

• Leadership in the NC Legislature seems bound and determined to undercut our public schools.

• Many Republicans are openly hostile towards public education, including NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who literally sits on the State Board of Education. In 2022, he established a puny task force with a snitch form for people to “expose indoctrination.” As he runs for governor, the voucher program is a main plank in his platform.