Greensboro's African American Community Newspaper since 1967
An energized N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper enthusiastically praised his administration’s achievements in traditional public education — increases in teacher pay, higher graduation rates, investments in Pre-K education — while vociferously denouncing “right wing groups and for-profit schools” for “missed opportunities” in elevating public schools.
Cooper chose Greensboro’s Claxton Elementary School to enumerate challenges and opportunities, meeting students and touring classrooms of the newly constructed state-of-the-art facility. Cooper joined Mo Green, former Guilford County Schools Superintendent, who was recently elected state Superintendent of Public Instruction and other GCS and area educators at what is likely Cooper’s final official public discussion as North Carolina’s governor on the importance of public school education.
“Claxton Elementary has been able to do amazing work in this brand-new school building,” he said. But Republican legislative leaders wouldn’t even consider a statewide bond referendum to renovate and build new schools in North Carolina, the third-fastest-growing state in the country. It’s put many of our students at a disadvantage in overcrowded and outdated classrooms. Missed opportunity.” Claxton is the first of six rehabilitated and new schools from a $300 million bond issue voters approved in 2020.
Cooper, who is completing his second term (the maximum) as governor of North Carolina, called public schools “the glue that holds our communities together,” saying, “In the past eight years, North Carolina’s public schools have achieved the highest graduation rate in history, 87 percent. North Carolina has more National Board-certified teachers than any state in America. In the past four years, we’ve had the national school psychologist, counselor and superintendent of the year, and a finalist for national teacher of the year. That’s quite a line-up and representative of the kind of educators we have.”
After praising his administration’s achievements, the governor quickly pivoted, condemning “missed opportunities” of the state’s Republican controlled General Assembly. “But over the last few years right wing groups and for-profit schools have peddled a false narrative that our public schools are failing in North Carolina and our country. But they have it backwards. State legislatures, including North Carolina’s, are failing our public schools. Missed opportunity,” he said.
Cooper said the biggest missed opportunity “ironically co-ops that word, ‘Opportunity Scholarships,’ otherwise known as taxpayer-funded private school vouchers for the wealthy, the right wing public school rip off. Just last month (November), the legislature gave $463 million of taxpayer dollars to higher income people, many of whom have already chosen private schools they can already afford.
