Early voting in North Carolina begins next month, giving voters the power to decide the outcomes of this year’s federal, state and local elections. These elections, particularly at the state and local level, will directly impact our daily lives. While the enthusiasm surrounding both presidential candidates is evident, we cannot forget the importance of down-ballot elections. Here are some essential questions to ask yourself before selecting North Carolina’s lawmakers:
Are expansions to the private school voucher program what’s best for our children, or for private schools?
In September 2023 North Carolina became the ninth state to offer universal tax-funded private school vouchers. Following this expansion, even North Carolina’s wealthiest families are eligible to receive money to send their children to private schools, regardless of whether those children have ever attended public school. With this decision, state lawmakers are choosing to send hundreds of millions of dollars per year to private and religious schools that can practice discriminatory admissions policies.
Of the 200 schools that received the most taxpayer funds from vouchers through the Opportunity Scholarship Program during the 2023-2024 school year, 89 percent practice discrimination in the admissions process in some form — often targeting religion, disability, or sexual orientation; fewer than half are accredited; and only 2 percent require teachers to be state-certified, which is a requirement for all North Carolina public school teachers. Additionally, North Carolina has some of the weakest accountability measures in the nation, meaning there are minimal standards in place for ensuring the quality of education students receive using these taxpayer-funded vouchers.
How will the Parents Bill of Rights and similar legislation impact students and schools across the state?
In August 2023 the General Assembly overrode Governor Cooper’s veto to enact Senate Bill 49, which some have called “The Parents’ Bill of Rights” while others have called it North Carolina’s “Don’t Say LGBTQ+” law. Some requirements of this law include that school staff must notify parents prior to any changes in the name or pronoun used for a student by school personnel, parents must be able to access their student’s school library records, and educators may not engage in conversations with students in kindergarten through fourth grade about gender or sexual identity.
Curriculum and school materials should be – and already were – designed to be age-appropriate. There is a difference, however, between a curriculum that is inappropriate for young children and a curriculum that is inclusive and representative of the diversity of identities and experiences among our students and their families.
At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year it became clear that this law majorly disrupted school operations and caused anxiety among educators. As a result, lawmakers pushed the effective date back to January 1, 2024 at the request of Superintendent Catherine Truitt. While parent involvement in the lives and education of their children is critically important, at best SB49 simply adds to educators’ workloads and demonstrates a lack of trust in them as professionals. At worst, it contributes to hostile school and home environments where students feel unsafe.
As a state, what are we doing to address our lack of school funding effort?
In 2023 North Carolina ranked 48th in the country on per-student spending and 49th on funding effort – the amount we spend on education as a percent of our GDP. This is the result of decades of disinvestment in our public schools. In both 2015 and 2018 judges in the 30-year-old Leandro school funding case ruled that North Carolina is failing to meet its constitutional obligation to provide every child with a sound basic education. In 2019 the Comprehensive Remedial Plan was introduced to address these shortcomings, but lawmakers have since refused to fully fund the plan.
Research shows that teachers are the number one school-related factor affecting student outcomes, but North Carolina continues to fall behind in teacher pay. This year we ranked 38th in average teacher pay and 42nd in starting teacher pay. Schools across the state have also had to deal with facilities issues and a lack of support staff, both of which can seriously hinder efforts to create positive learning environments. Our public schools can thrive, but not if we don’t give them the resources they need to do so.
What do I want for North Carolina’s future?
Currently North Carolina is the second-best state for businesses. We were ranked first in this category, but this year Virginia took that spot with one of the cited reasons being the state’s strong public education system. Public education advocates have said for years that we cannot remain a top state for business if we are unwilling to adequately prepare our state’s future workforce. Continuing down this path of disinvestment in education will have effects that will be felt even outside of our school communities.
Beyond economic impact, political divisiveness has plagued our communities in recent years. Research shows that well-funded, high-quality education leads to a reduction in crime and better health outcomes, contributing to vibrant and thriving communities. It is time to move past divisiveness and toward strengthening our communities, but that decision must be made collectively at the polls.
To figure out which North Carolina House and Senate districts you’ll be voting in this year visit ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators, then head to ncforum.org/candidatesurvey to see where your candidates stand on these issues.
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