ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Gov. Roy Cooper dropped off a box of supplies during his visit to Leicester Elementary School on Tuesday.
“I have much admiration for our public school teachers and for the work you do,” he said to a crowd that included teachers and local and state officials.
“Each and every year that goes by, our public school teachers in North Carolina are being asked to do more with less. So they’re putting in extra effort. It’s one of the reasons why we brought school supplies today. We need to make sure we are supporting our public schools.”
During his stop at Leicester, Cooper visited teachers and students and heard from parents and school officials.
Principal Penny Caldwell called Leicester Elementary the first step in a student’s life journey.
“We feel that each moment is precious and an opportunity to help build our children into what they will become as adults,” Caldwell said. “We know that their time here is their first step toward graduation and the bright future that lies ahead.”
PTO president Donna Rhinehart said the school had served as an academic foundation for her family.
“Teachers at Leicester not only give academic instruction. They also support students’ social and emotional growth,” Rhinehart said. “It’s easy to stand behind a school that will always put students first.”
Cooper said it’s time to put public schools first, calling for lawmakers to fully fund K-12 education as well as make meaningful investments in early childhood education and teacher pay. The governor also called for a stop to state spending on vouchers for unaccountable and unregulated private schools until North Carolina’s public schools are fully funded.
“I’m deeply concerned about the private school voucher program that is been put in place. We’re now going to see about $4 billion over the next few years go to private school vouchers,” the governor said. “That’s public taxpayer money taken from the public schools and given to the private schools.
“I want to say first I don’t have any problem with private schools, and parents should be able to have the choice to send their children to private schools, but we must fully fund our public schools first before we use public taxpayer money on private schools,” he said to a round of applause.
In April, Cooper announced a budget that included raising teacher pay by 8.5% and investing more than $1 billion in public schools while placing a moratorium on taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
But Cooper said Tuesday a bill expected to hit the legislature in November or December would take about $625 million to fund private school vouchers.
“We could do the 8 1/2 percent pay raise for teachers. We could do the $1,500 bonus. Plus, we could add school counselors, teacher assistants, psychologists and nurses that we all know that we need. We could do all of that with that money,” Cooper said.
The Buncombe County Schools system is expected to lose about $5.5 million because of the private school voucher program.
Cooper said he has been trying to remind everyone how great public schools are and urging them to let lawmakers know they stand behind public schools. He pointed to the expansion of Medicaid as what can happen when people come together.
“We need to create the same kind of coalition for our public schools because not only is it helping our children learn and live better lives, but it’s creating the workforce for tomorrow,” Cooper said.
“Our public schools need to get better and we need to invest in order to make sure that we continue to improve.”
Cooper gave those at the meeting some homework.
- Learn about the great things happening in our public schools.
- Pay teachers like the professionals they are.
- Expand access to early childhood education, quality child care, and pre-kindergarten.
- Place a moratorium on private school vouchers until our public schools are fully funded.