社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

This article is part of 社区黑料鈥檚 EDlection 2024 coverage, which takes a look at candidates鈥� education policies and how they might impact the American education system after the 2024 election.

By many accounts, Michele Morrow is the least likely candidate to lead North Carolina鈥檚 education system. 

She鈥檚 been homeschooling her children for over a decade, participated in the 鈥淪top the Steal鈥� rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the , and has used choice words like 鈥渋ndoctrination centers鈥� to describe public schools. And then there鈥檚 the 2020 tweet she said the media won鈥檛 let her forget 鈥� the one in which she called for a of former President Barack Obama. 

In an interview with 社区黑料, Morrow, who has about her past tweets, downplayed the comments. 鈥淒id I say things in jest? Absolutely,鈥� she said. The former nurse unexpectedly ousted Republican incumbent Catherine Truitt in the primary and now faces Maurice 鈥淢o鈥� Green, a former district superintendent, in the general election. She brushes off her as just 鈥渁 political thing.鈥� 

鈥淭hat’s between adults,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat’s not what I think should be happening in our classrooms.鈥�

Morrow isn鈥檛 the only Jan. 6 participant vying for office this November. for a , and an of the rally is running for the Texas House. But if elected, Morrow would become the only protester responsible for more than 2,700 schools and a $13 billion education budget.

She counts her nine years teaching science and Spanish for a homeschool co-op as her primary qualification for the job and said that after six years talking to parents and educators, she has a 鈥渃lear understanding鈥� of what voters are looking for in a state schools chief, starting with a strong focus on academics and character development. Green, meanwhile, is trumpeting his experience leading an education agency and advocating for increased education funding at a time when Republican lawmakers are . 

In interviews, Morrow espouses policies 鈥� like a scientific approach to and in math 鈥� that could bridge the partisan divide in a state with a Democratic governor and Republican-controlled House and Senate. But her past actions and occasionally extreme language are alienating would-be allies.

鈥淚’m fearful of the rhetoric,鈥� said Marcus Brandon, who leads CarolinaCAN, part of a network of policy and advocacy groups that support school choice. He pushed for expansion of the state鈥檚 voucher program, and said while Morrow is 鈥済ood for my issue on paper,鈥� he thinks Green is more qualified. A former lawyer, Green led the Guilford County Schools, which includes Greensboro, for seven years.

鈥淲e need a strong public school system,鈥� Brandon said. 鈥淪eventy-five percent of our kids are going to go there.鈥� 

Following her surprise victory in the March primary, Morrow鈥檚 campaign attracted a from North Carolina鈥檚 business community. But she lags behind Green in fundraising. At the Green had over $578,000 on hand to Morrow鈥檚 $50,600. 

Whoever wins faces a system with critical challenges, like record-setting and flat funding. According to the Education Law Center鈥檚 most recent , North Carolina ranks 48th in per-student funding, almost $5,000 below the national average of $16,131. Morrow argues there鈥檚 already plenty of money for education and districts just need to 鈥渢riage.鈥� 

鈥淲e need someone who can lead us in a way that prioritizes students,鈥� said Lauren Fox, senior director of policy and research at the Public School Forum of North Carolina, a think tank that supports public schools. She hopes the next superintendent will continue Truitt鈥檚 practice of appointing a at a time when teachers currently feel 鈥� and that their voices aren’t being heard.鈥� 

Green agrees and often the public that Morrow, during some of her Facebook live posts early in the pandemic, used words like 鈥渃esspool of evil and lies鈥� to describe public schools. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for governor, has made similar disparaging remarks, calling teachers 鈥渨icked people鈥� in last year. 

鈥淥ur educators are being disrespected,鈥� Green told 社区黑料. The state ranks 42nd in starting teacher pay, according to the latest National Education Association . 鈥淚t鈥檚 especially challenging to bring folks into this really important profession when you’re not paying them well enough.鈥� 

During his tenure, from 2008 to 2015, Guilford saw graduation rates climb nearly 10 percentage points to over 89% and rising scores on college entrance exam. 

Recruited to run by outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, Green said he鈥檚 better positioned to press for state spending increases while helping districts adjust to tighter budgets as federal relief funds dry up. He took over the Guilford district at the start of the Great Recession and said one of his first tasks was to return money to the state so officials could balance the budget.

After leaving Guilford, Green led the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a philanthropy that funds of education, social and environmental causes. In Guilford, he supported charter schools and encouraged choice within the district. But he said, 鈥淲e can’t have great choices in our public schools when you don’t provide even close to adequate resources for them.鈥�

His point in a state where a group of poor districts sued in 1994 to get enough funding to provide students with a basic education. The foundation he led funded efforts to determine how much the state should provide for programs like pre-K and teacher preparation. The conservative state Supreme Court, however, is now deciding whether to overturn a 2022 opinion directing North Carolina to spend $800 million to improve education in the poorest parts of the state.

Green called the foundation 鈥渁n organization that certainly tries to lift up marginalized communities.鈥� 

But Morrow has seized on Green鈥檚 ties to the association to label him and extremist. She points to the organization鈥檚 financing of who push for reducing the presence of school resource officers to curb the school-to-prison pipeline.

She said she鈥檚 watching out for teachers by making student discipline the centerpiece of her platform. She cited showing almost 1,500 assaults by students on public school employees during the 2022-23 school year and attended a recent in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to address school safety. 

Morrow thinks she鈥檚 been by educators in the public system and insists she only decided to homeschool when her oldest daughter, who had learning disabilities, wasn鈥檛 making progress. 

鈥淪he was having math tutoring every day, and she still wasn’t learning math facts,鈥� she said. 

She eventually homeschooled her other four children, but stressed that she doesn鈥檛 think all public schools are bad. As an example, she pointed to her local Wake County district鈥檚 . 

鈥淭his whole idea that because your children are not in public school, that means you hate public school 鈥� nothing could be further from the truth,鈥� she said.

Morrow described any past online vitriol as 鈥渞hetorical hyperbole鈥� that wasn鈥檛 鈥渂othering anybody鈥� until the media focused on it.

But at a June conservative gathering called America Day, south of Greensboro, some of had a familiar ring. 

鈥淭he greatest threat to the constitutional Republic that we call home is the indoctrination happening in our public school system today,鈥� she said. In other interviews, she has voiced to discussions of race and gender in the classroom.

Morrow said she holds a monthly Zoom meeting with teachers, but has twice to share the stage with her Democratic opponent. 

鈥淪he is running for office by running against the current system,鈥� said Christopher Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University. If Green wants to draw the spotlight away from her, Cooper said he must 鈥渞aise the salience鈥� of the office.

鈥淭he superintendent of public instruction is not, in normal circumstances, an office that voters know a lot about,鈥� he said. And most statewide races 鈥渄o not draw attention outside of the borders of North Carolina,鈥� making this chief鈥檚 race unique. 

But ultimately, the outcome in a purple state will likely rest not on either candidate鈥檚 platform, he said, but on whether Robinson, the GOP candidate for governor, and former President Donald Trump prevail on election night.

鈥淚f Morrow does win,鈥� he said, 鈥渋t will likely be on the backs of a larger number of Republican wins in North Carolina.鈥�

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter