‘Balance in the system.’ What could NC’s 2024 election results mean for public education?
North Carolina could be in for jockeying for public education power or bipartisan collaboration with a broken supermajority in the state House and newly elected Democrats to the council of state.
Democrat Mo Green will be the new North Carolina superintendent of public instruction. Unofficial election night results show he beat Republican opponent Michele Morrow by a margin of 2%. He'll be joined by Democrats in four council of state offices, including a lieutenant governor's office that'll flip from Republican to Democrat.
And Green won't be the only person with a say over public education in the state. The governor, lieutenant governor, state superintendent, State Board of Education and state legislature all have roles to play in determining the direction of the state's schools.
Josh Stein, who won the governor's race, will appoint 11 members to the state's 13-seat Board of Education for eight-year terms. Democrat Rachel Hunt was elected North Carolina's new lieutenant governor and will serve as a member of the board. The legislature, where Democrats are currently projected to gain one seat, passes laws and confirms state board of education members. And if they get a supermajority, Republicans can override any of Stein's vetoes.
Deanna Townsend-Smith, senior director of the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity, said she's optimistic about "a path forward."
"I think there is a true path forward, with the supermajority being broken, hopefully there's a path toward ensuring there are policies that reflect what is needed for our public schools to thrive and provide for each and every student," she said. "When there is balance in the system, it allows for the opportunity for people to come together and take action toward the priorities of the people."
As election officials finalize vote tallies, House District 32 near the Virginia border could give the GOP a supermajority again. On Thursday morning, the Republican incumbent there trailed by 182 votes.
What has Mo Green said?
Green chiefly campaigned on advocating for higher investment from the state in NC's public schools. He previously told The Charlotte Observer he ran for office at the behest of Gov. Roy Cooper, who has also advocated heavily for more public education funding.
"I was deeply concerned about the direction of our public schools in NC and funding." Green told The Observer in September. "I believe our schools are woefully underfunded."
Green has emphasized the need for investment in three areas specifically: early learning interventions, educator pay and support for disadvantaged students.
Troubled by waning support for public schools, Green said one of his main priorities is "restoring respect" for educators by lessening their workload and improving work conditions. He sees increasing teacher salaries and adding school support staff as key components of that mission.
"The direction that we seem to be heading in is to continue moving away from supporting our public schools," he said ahead of the election. "I think it's going to take champions of public education to meet this moment."
Green said he wants to increase collaboration with community organizations and create safer schools with more mental health staff – not necessarily more school resource officers as his opponent proposed.
"When I commit to something, I'm going to work almost without ceasing, and in this instance, the work that I'll be doing will be on behalf of the children who are in our public school system," Green told reporters at a virtual press conference Wednesday. "To be sure that we move it to a place where it is seen as the very best school system in the entire country."
Hopeful and skeptical
Justin Parmenter is a seventh-grade English teacher in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools who's vocal online about politics and public education. Parmenter says he's optimistic about the outcome of Tuesday's state races.
"Overall, I think it's definitely a win for public schools," he said. "We need to start from the premise that our public schools will be the number one option for the vast majority of our students and instead of trying to ignore public schools and focus on developing alternate educational opportunities for students, we need to make sure public schools are an excellent option for families."
Parmenter says Republican state lawmakers have been focused in recent years on funding school vouchers and diverting students to private and charter schools rather than fully funding traditional public school districts.
Last year, the state's school voucher program opened up to families of all income levels, and the state legislature dedicated $463 million additional dollars a year to it. There was no corresponding increase to public school funding.
Parmenter says he's simultaneously hopeful and skeptical the loss of the supermajority combined with the election of Green, Stein and Hunt could make lawmakers more likely to pass legislation that funds public schools.
"I'm hopeful that we'll see this play out as a majority party that is more inclined to fund public schools, but I also think that would be a change in direction for the Republican party," he said. "It remains to be seen whether they'll take this as a chance to work in a more bipartisan manner or if it's just going to be more of the same."
What about the State Board of Education?
The State Board of Education is responsible for managing and overseeing the state's public school system and the funds that support it. Green will serve as its secretary and chief administrative officer.
But the General Assembly holds power when it comes to education in the state — it creates policies that dictate things like base teacher salary and when the school year can start and end. The Board of Education enacts policies that align with the laws the legislature passes.
Right now, the State Board of Education consists mostly of members appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Republicans in the state legislature have taken several somewhat controversial measures in recent years to reduce the power of the board, including shifting some of its power to the superintendent – currently, Republican Catherine Truitt. They've also reduced its staff, declined to confirm some board members and reduced its oversight by creating a legislature-appointed panel to oversee charter schools.
When state legislators made the changes, they may have expected Truitt to win her party's nomination for the seat as well as the position itself. She didn't. So, with Green winning, all eyes will be on whether or how Republicans shift around power between the board and state superintendent.
House Bill 17 last session proposed a constitutional amendment that would make state board members elected rather than appointed and install the superintendent as chairperson. With another Democrat in the governor's seat, a similar bill could surface.
"Given that our state constitution calls for the board to oversee public education really from the lens of non-partisanship and collaboration, I would hope those things remain intact," Townsend-Smith said.
Then, there's the president.
President-Elect Donald Trump hasn't laid out much specific education policy but has previously said he'd advocate for dissolving the Department of Education. Trump also said he'll deny federal funding to schools that teach "critical race theory" or "the transgender agenda," though he has not defined what constitutes either of those things. Trump also said he'll deny funding to schools with vaccine requirements.
Loss of federal funding would be a heavy blow to schools around the country, especially for Title 1 schools, which receive extra federal funding because a large portion of their students come from low-income families. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, 105 of 186 campuses are Title 1.
