As Republican legislators go yet another week without passing a new budget, education leaders in 40 school districts across the state are continuing to speak out against extreme plans that would undermine and underfund public education and call on the legislature to make meaningful investments in public schools.
“This extreme Republican legislation would undermine and underfund public education, causing public schools to lose hundreds of millions of dollars,” said Governor Roy Cooper. “As the legislature goes another week without passing a budget, more and more education leaders are calling out these disastrous schemes and urging the legislature to make meaningful investments in public education.”
After weeks of delay, the Republican supermajority legislature has failed to pass a budget on time focusing instead on extreme, job-killing culture war bills and reckless plans to dismantle public education. Unfortunately, schools are also facing critical teacher shortages, but must gear up to begin the school year without teacher pay raises in place.
In the past few weeks, several additional school boards have passed resolutions condemning these dangerous plans, including:
The above school boards join boards in 22 school districts from both rural and urban counties that have previously passed resolutions calling on Republicans to invest in public education, including:
- Alexander County Schools
- Asheville City Schools
- Buncombe County Schools
- Burke County Schools
- Cabarrus County Schools
- Camden County Schools
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
- Chatham County Schools
- Clinton City Schools
- Cumberland County Schools
- Durham Public Schools
- Gates County Schools
- Guilford County Schools
- Madison County Schools
- Mooresville Graded School District
- Montgomery County Schools
- Roanoke Rapids Graded School District
- Richmond County Schools
- Scotland County Schools
- Stanly County Schools
- Washington County Schools
- Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools
Other leaders in public education have also spoken out in opposition of bills expanding private school vouchers. Nineteen superintendents in the northeast region sent a letter to legislators expressing their concerns with the proposed voucher expansion and highlighting the negative impacts the expansion would have on the school districts in their region. The nineteen superintendents oversee:
- Gates County Schools
- Perquimans County Schools
- Bertie County Schools
- Beaufort County Schools
- Camden County Schools
- Currituck County Schools
- Dare County Schools
- Edenton-Chowan Schools
- Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools
- Halifax County Schools
- Hertford County Schools
- Hyde County Schools
- Martin County Schools
- Northampton County Schools
- Pitt County Schools
- Roanoke Rapids Graded School District
- Tyrrell County Schools
- Washington County Schools
- Weldon City Schools
The State Board of Education Chairman sent a letter to legislators outlining the board’s concerns with the proposed expansion of the private school voucher program and the bills being considered by the General Assembly that would erode the State Board’s authority to oversee the state’s public education system.
The Guilford County Commissioners passed a resolution on the need to invest in public education. Mike Hawkins, a former Transylvania County Commissioner and business owner, published an op-ed highlighting the negative impacts the proposed expansion of private school vouchers would have on local public school funding, specifically in Transylvania County.
Dr. Whitney Oakley, Superintendent of Guilford County Schools, wrote an op-ed in EdNC highlighting how communities can only be as strong as their public schools. She discussed the need to attract and retain teachers with competitive compensation, the range of choice programs Guilford County Schools offers families and how public schools belong to everyone, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or ability to pay.
Dr. Kim Morrison, Superintendent of Mt. Airy City Schools, published an op-ed highlighting the great things public schools in Mt. Airy and across the state provide to students and their communities. She also pointed out the danger that the proposed expansion of private school vouchers poses to public schools in her community.
The North Carolina Caucus of Black School Board Members passed a resolution urging community members to contact legislators and ask them to oppose Senate Bill 406 and House Bill 823.
The Republicans’ extreme proposals would choke the life out of public education by causing public schools to lose hundreds of millions of dollars through the expansion of private school vouchers, exacerbating the state’s teacher shortage and granting no substantive funding for early childhood education and child care.
Expanding voucher eligibility to any K-12 student will force public schools, especially those in rural and poorer counties, to make steep cuts, leaving schools without the resources to hire enough teachers and support students.
In FY 2026-27 alone, public schools across the state would be projected to see a decline in state funding of more than $203 million. That number is expected to increase as the proposed voucher expansion ramps up in later years. The proposed expansion would impact counties across the state differently. In FY 2026-27, 31 counties would see a 3% or greater decline in total state funding with an average of $2.9 million loss in state funding.
Governor Cooper has traveled across the state to visit public schools and sound the alarm on these dangerous plans. The Governor has visited schools in New Hanover, Greene, Buncombe, Wake, Mecklenburg, Guilford and Alamance Counties.
Watch the Governor’s special address.
Learn more about North Carolina’s public education emergency.
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