Candidates for North Carolina superintendent face off in Saturday debate

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Candidates for North Carolina’s Superintendent of Public Instruction debated Saturday, offering very different perspectives on public education.

Democrat Mo Green is the former superintendent of Guilford County public schools, who also led the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and sent his children to public schools. Republican Michele Morrow is a former nurse who homeschooled her children and taught other home school students.

The two candidates disagree on a number of issues including school vouchers, which provide taxpayer dollars for families to send their children to private schools.

“I do not believe dollars that are public dollars, our taxpayer dollars, should be going to private schools,” Green said.

“If you can’t afford to pay for a private school, this is a short-term solution,” said Morrow. “The money should be following the student.”

When it comes to school safety, Morrow is advocating for more school resource officers and talked about assaults on teachers.  She said students who cannot control themselves should be removed from the classroom.

Green is pushing for more mental health professionals, and brought up metal detectors, relationships with law enforcement, and character development as potential safety solutions.

Both say there should be limits or bans on cellphones in schools, though Green says there should not be a total ban immediately.

Green said his years of experience in the public school system prepared him to handle the job of superintendent, while Morrow argued public schools have become politicized

“Unfortunately, my opponent is embedded in that political system,” she said. “It’s time for us to recognize that this social, this politically charged, racially divisive, and sexually inappropriate content is destroying our children, destroying their future.”

In response, Green pointed to Morrow’s past social media posts, which have now been deleted.

“This is a person who’s called for the executions of many, many folk s ,” he said. “President Biden… and Governor Cooper and President Barack Obama. Is this the kind of character we want next to our children?”

That question will be up to the voters, who head to the polls in less than two months.

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