North Carolina
Safety, salaries, and cell phones: NC Superintendent candidates hold a second forum • NC Newsline
In a presidential election year, it can be difficult for downballot candidates to get attention. But North Carolina’s candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Republican Michele Morrow and Democrat Mo Green, have squared off in two events in the past week, hoping to distinguish themselves as the best person to run the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and administer approximately $11 billion in state and federal funding.
Saturday morning, both Morrow and Green met in person on the NC State campus in an hour-long forum hosted by Public Schools First North Carolina and the North Carolina Parent Teacher Association.
In her opening statement Morrow, a nurse who homeschooled her children, said she believes an outsider is needed to focus on students, not the system.
“There was a time when our students knew what it meant to respect authority and to honor their elders, and that they were proud and that they were appreciative for being citizens in the United States of America,” said Morrow. “But now, ladies and gentlemen, we are in crisis. We are not serving our students, our teachers, our parents, or our administrators well.”
Green, a former superintendent of Guilford County Schools and past executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, told the audience this position requires a true champion of public education, especially at a time that North Carolina ranks 48th in school funding.
Per-pupil spending nationally is about $16,000 per student, but in North Carolina that figure is a little more than $11,000 according to Green.
Instead, legislators are funding private school vouchers, that will drain hundreds of millions more from public education.
“And then you talk about the way that our public-school educators and our public schools are being disrespected by many, including my very own opponent who has called our public schools, cesspools of evil lies and deception, has called our educators groomers,” said Green. “I would submit to you that this election is about protecting the very soul of public education.”
Morrow, a conservative activist who has drawn national attention for her calls for political violence, acknowledged that too many teachers are leaving the public school system, and the next state superintendent must address that.
“They are leaving what they were called to do because they don’t feel like they are getting the resources, they’re not getting the support, and they are not able to do what they want to do, which is called to teach,” Morrow said. “They are having to push an agenda. I’m going to advocate for families, for students, for staff, and I’m going to ensure that the laws are obeyed in every single one of our 115 districts.”
School safety a top concern
On the issue of school safety, Morrow said would push for at least two school resource officers (SROs) in every school.
“We need a code of conduct. We need for parents, teachers, and staff to understand what is going to be expected in conduct as well as academic performance,” Morrow said.
She faulted two group that received funding from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation that advocated for removing SROs.
“If you live here in Wake County, you have seen in the last week, we have had more than five schools on lockdown. That is absolutely irresponsible,” Morrow said.
Green said strategies he would employ to make schools safer include building effective relationships with law enforcement, increasing the mental health professionals working with students, and hardening some facilities.
“And then finally, character development. I think it’s important that our children understand how to comport themselves, how to be in a relationship with each other, even when they’re in disagreement with each other.”
Raising pay amid a rise in private school vouchers
On the issue of compensation, both candidates agreed that the starting salary for North Carolina’s teachers is not enough.
Morrow said she would like to see starting pay for teachers in the $50,000-$55,000 range, with certain educators earning more based on their skills.
Green suggested starting pay be set at $55,000 to $60,000, with no ceiling on what teachers earn.
Green also made clear his opposition the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program recently expanded by the Republican-controlled legislature. The additional funding for vouchers approved just last week totals $5 billion over the next decade.
“This is deeply troubling when you think about now the wealthiest of the wealthy, those who can already afford to send their child to a private school already have their child in a private school can now get government assistance. What are we doing?”
Morrow said under her administration, NCDPI would do ‘a deep dive’ into how the money is spent, but “healthy competition creates the best product at the best price.”
Limiting smartphones in schools
With an increasing number of states implementing bans on cellphones in schools, both candidates agreed there should be limitations.
“I’m not at a place where I’m going to say there should be a total ban on cell phones in all of our schools at all times. But I do think that we’ve got to figure our ways to limit the access of cell phones in our schools because our students, I believe, are being inundated with all sorts of things that are distracting them from receiving the educational opportunities that they should be receiving in the classroom,” Green said.
Morrow took it a step further.
“I think it’s very dangerous to have our kids on a screen. When I talk about it as a nurse and the developmental issues that we’re seeing in our young people with the frontal lobe, with their ability to maintain impulse control, I think we absolutely need to remove at least the cell phones from the classroom. I’d also like to see a severe diminishment, if not removal from our elementary school of handheld devices,” she said.
Morrow said it’s more important for students to have face-to-face time with teachers.
Morrow sharpens her attack, Green questions her fitness to lead NC schools
The polite, hour-long conversation on education policy took an unexpected turn in the candidate’s closing remarks.
Morrow said the exodus of teachers and families from North Carolina public schools can be tied to a politicized system, with an agenda funded in part by Z. Smith Reynolds, the foundation Green once led.
“So he can talk a good game, but I want you to know what is at stake. He talks about grooming, well, let me tell you, Planned Parenthood, go look up, Amaze Jr. and Amaze. They are cartoons that are teaching our four to nine-year-olds how to masturbate.
“They’re telling them that it is fine as a four-year-old to poke and prod one another naked, go watch it. It is being funded, it is being promoted by Planned Parenthood who is one of his biggest supporters,” asserted Morrow.
Morrow said white teachers need not apologize for their whiteness.
“We should not be telling our teachers that our minority students cannot perform because you have inherent racism. It’s time for us to recognize that this social, this politically charged, this racially divisive, and this sexually inappropriate content is destroying our children, it’s destroying their future,” said Morrow in her pledge to make schools a place where children are protected and parental rights respected.
Green for his part reminded the audience that it was Morrow who took her children to the attempted insurrection on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol and even suggested then-President Donald Trump use the military to stay in power.
“This is a person who’s called for the executions of many, many folks, listing President Biden and Governor Cooper and President Barack Obama,” said Green in referencing Morrow’s prior social media posts. “Is this the kind of character we want next to our children?”
Voters won’t have to wait long to answer that question. Early in-person voting for the General Election begins on October 17th.
A top North Carolina lawmaker who suffered a stunning upset in his primary election last month spoke publicly about the result Tuesday, blaming the loss on political opponents across the aisle.
North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger — who has led the chamber since 2011 — lost the Republican primary for his seat to Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page by 23 votes, one of the closest elections in state history. Berger conceded defeat in a March 24 statement after a machine recount and partial hand recount yielded no change in Page’s lead.
Berger discussed the experience with reporters Tuesday after lawmakers convened for a short legislative session in Raleigh. Asked what message voters sent him in the primary, Berger said: “Democrats like to vote in some Republican primaries. That’s the message.”
Berger didn’t elaborate on his explanation. Registered Democrats are only allowed to take Democratic ballots in primary elections. But unaffiliated voters are allowed to participate in a party primary of their choice. Berger didn’t suggest changes to that law, but he mentioned possible examination of other election laws.
He said lawmakers should reconsider the number of days North Carolina allows for early voting in primaries. In-person early voting started on Feb. 12 and ended Feb. 28.
“Seventeen days of early voting just seemed pretty excessive and it really stresses the local boards of elections,” Berger said. Some county election boards struggle to find daily staffing for all of their voting sites in the early voting period, he said.
Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, called Berger’s comments “an insult to his district and an affront to our democracy.”
“The voters sent him a clear message,” Batch said. “It’s time he accept it and get back to work to finish the job he still has, while he still has it. Pass a budget.”
State lawmakers haven’t adopted a comprehensive state budget since 2023. They were expected to do so last year, but Berger and Republican House Speaker Destin Hall have been at odds over a range of issues, including tax policy, Medicaid funding, and other line items affecting billions of dollars in state funding.
Berger said Tuesday that he and Hall were on the verge of a spending agreement for Medicaid, the government-funded health insurer for people who are young, impoverished or disabled. Republican legislators plan to approve Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s $319 Medicaid request, while adding guardrails and oversight measures to prevent fraud and waste.
To strike the deal, Berger said Tuesday that he had agreed to postpone discussions about funding for a massive new children’s hospital. The 2023 budget authorized about $320 million over three fiscal years for North Carolina Children’s Health — a partnership between UNC Health and Duke Health — to open in Apex in 2032. About $216 million has already been spent. Hall has said his caucus wants to reconsider the final installment of funds, about $103 million, while Berger has called on House leaders to release the money.
“We’ve agreed to move the discussion of whether or not the House is going to honor the agreement they made in 2023 to the full budget discussion,” Berger said Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday, Hall told reporters that progress had been made on negotiating children’s hospital funding.
“It’s not resolved yet,” Hall said. “I think there’s some questions about how much more money it’s going to need exactly in order to be a viable project. And so, you know, those discussions continue.”
Those budget negotiations are ongoing, but Berger said recent conversations have given him reason to be optimistic. “We’re having conversations,” he said. “They are substantive. They haven’t gotten us to an agreement yet, but we are continuing to talk, continuing to exchange ideas,” Berger said.
Hall described budget talks similarly: “The trajectory is good [enough] to where we’re very likely to get a budget done, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Berger said that, in the final months of his term, he wants to focus on policies that make North Carolina a top destination for businesses.
“I’d like to continue the progress that we’ve made over the years in making North Carolina number one state for business and making North Carolina a competitive state in terms of our tax climate and our regulatory climate,” Berger said, adding that he wants to boost education funding as well.
Addressing property taxes
House and Senate Republicans are also offering separate proposals for limiting property taxes in North Carolina.
House Republicans are pursuing a constitutional amendment that would give the state more control over how much cities and counties can raise property taxes. On Tuesday, Berger said he doesn’t think there’s a consensus on the proposed amendment and noted that it would take several months to enact into law. Voters must approve constitutional amendments at the polls in order for them to become law.
“It’s a start that we can look at,” Berger said of the proposed constitutional amendment. “But that, by itself, would not actually go into effect until after the voters approve it, if they approve it, and then the legislature actually passes some sort of legislation.”
Berger said he plans to introduce a bill that freezes municipal property tax revaluations for 12 months while legislators study the issue further.
“We’ve got to do something,” Berger said. “I just don’t know that there’s consensus as to what that something is.
“The best thing that we can do at this point is just call a timeout and give the legislature an opportunity to try to review whatever proposals might be out there.”
Less than two weeks after losing its head coach to Duke University, a North Carolina high school football program has been promoted from within.
Kevin Reddick will become the new head coach at Rolesville High School, replacing Ranier Rackley, who became the Director of Player Development at Duke University.
News of the decision was first reported by High School OT.
Reddick was the defensive coordinator for the Rams for the past three seasons, helping the team win 25 games during that run. Last year, Rolesville allowed just under 15 points per game with Reddick in charge of the defense.
North Carolina High School Promotes Defensive Coordinator To Head Coach
Rolesville finished 9-4 last season under Rackley and Reddick.
Reddick is a graduate of New Bern High School, helping the Bears capture the 2007 Class 4AA North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Football championship. He was tabbed the most valuable player of that title game as a sophomore fullback after scoring two touchdowns in a 28-17 victory over Independence.
At New Bern, Reddick earned conference defensive player of the year honors and was all-state at lineback as a senior after recording 189 tackles, eight quarterback sacks, six forced fumbles and four blocked punts. He also ran for over 160 yards and scored six touchdowns.
Kevin Reddick Was College Standout, Had NFL Career Before Becoming Coach
Following his high school career, Reddick signed with North Carolina as a four-star prospect, earning first team all-ACC honors as a senior. He also had offers from North Carolina State, Virginia and Clemson.
With the Tar Heels, Reddick played in 50 games, recording 275 tackles, including 36 for loss, with 8.5 quarterback sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.
Reddick signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent, and also had stints with the San Diego Chargers, Carolina Panthers and Buffalo Bills.
Rolesville reached the North Carolina High School Athletic Association State Football championship game with Reddick on the coaching staff and the third round this past season.
Rolesville Returns Top Rusher, Several Other Key Players
The Rams will be replacing starting quarterback Kaleb Williams, who had almost 2,500 yards passing and 22 touchdowns, as freshman Chase Williams was 8-for-8 for 98 yards with a touchdown in three games.
They will have top running back Amir Brown back, as he ran for 1,374 yards with 22 touchdowns and six games of 100 yards rushing as a junior. He also had 13 receptions for 106 yards and another TD.
Anthony Roberts is another key player back, as he caught 35 passes for 656 yards and nine TDs. Top tacklers Jayden Broadie, Javon Campbell, Genesis Allen and Keonte Sutton are all set to return, as well.
Follow
At least two people are dead and “several” others are injured after a “planned fight” at a North Carolina park escalated into a mass shooting, authorities said.
Police have identified several victims and suspects after Monday’s shooting at Leinbach Park near Jefferson Middle School, according to the Winston-Salem Police Department.
Authorities confirmed there were multiple victims in the shooting, but did not provide an exact number. The suspects were still at large over two hours later.
Officers were called to the park just before 10 a.m. after reports of a fight, which then escalated into multiple people shooting each other.
Area schools are not in lockdown, and classes are operating as normal, police said.
“Due to the number of people involved, efforts are ongoing to account for everyone. At this time, some of those involved in the incident are juveniles,” police said.
According to local news station WFMY, at least three people were taken to the hospital. Officials have not shared their conditions.
Police said the shooting was an isolated incident and remains under investigation.
This is a developing story
-
Pittsburg, PA3 minutes agoCallie DiSabato: Unregulated short-term rentals hurt Pittsburgh
-
Augusta, GA9 minutes agoAttention, shoppers: Augusta-area Walmarts to be remodeled in 2026
-
Washington, D.C15 minutes ago11 hurt after work vehicle collides with Silver Line train at Metro Center
-
Cleveland, OH21 minutes agoHouston Astros at Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for Tuesday 4/21/26
-
Austin, TX27 minutes agoAppeals court rules Texas can require public schools to display Ten Commandments in class
-
Alabama33 minutes agoAlabama Defeated By Birmingham
-
Alaska39 minutes agoHawaiian, Alaska reservation systems merge: Big changes for travelers start April 22
-
Arizona45 minutes agoMichigan defenseman Hunter Hady transfers to Arizona State