Source: NC Newsline
The 2024 North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction race presents a crucial opportunity to address longstanding challenges in funding and performance for the state’s 2,500 schools. As Republican state legislators push to divert money to expand a private school voucher program, the position will be vital in determining the future of public education.
Voters will have two choices in November for state superintendent; Democrat Mo Green or Republican Michele Morrow.
Green is a longtime resident of North Carolina, who has a political science and law degree from Duke University, and whose two children are graduates of North Carolina Public Schools.
Green was also a deputy superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and superintendent of Guilford County Schools. During his time in Guilford, Green implemented changes that helped bolster the graduation rate to nearly 90 percent.
Green’s opponent, Michele Morrow, is a homeschool teacher, registered nurse, and far-right Republican who has called for the televised public execution of President Barack Obama. Morrow has also made headlines for her extremist conspiracy theories and violent fantasies about killing Democratic leaders, along with her attendance at the Jan. 6 insurrection.
If elected, Morrow, who is endorsed by Moms for Liberty, an anti-government organization, proposes eliminating the State Board of Education and forcing children with special needs into separate classrooms where they’ll “just focus on learning life skills.”
In contrast, Green is running for superintendent due to his concern about the direction our public schools are going in now. Green is focused on advocating for funding to increase teacher pay, recruit more individuals into the education profession, improve working conditions and address neglected school infrastructures.
“We ought to have the highest expectations for our students and for our public schools. And so part of what I’ve been grappling with in a world where there is a negativity around public schools, how are we going to elevate the conversation so that we can focus on becoming the very best school system in the entire country,” stated Green in an interview with Cardinal & Pine.
“The very soul of public education is on the ballot and it’s going to take champions of public education to meet this moment.”
