Carolina Politics Online

Chairman Linda Daves, North Carolina Republican Party, made the following statement:“This report confirms a sad truth about North Carolina’s education policy: We are failing one in three high school students. Instead of addressing the problems in our state’s schools with common-sense solutions or rethinking the same failed educational policies of the past, the Democrat leadership has offered more of the same in its new budget. Instead of considered alternatives to the paths we have already followed to dead ends in education, Democrats prefer to continue to throw more money at the problem while providing no oversight or accountability to ensure that North Carolina taxpayers are getting their money’s worth when it comes to education. Democrats have refused to consider worthy ideas such as expanding career, technical and vocational education options for our high school students. They have refused to lift the cap on charter schools even though we have seen great success stories in many of these schools. They have refused to evaluate the effectiveness of pet projects like More at Four or Smart Start or examine the efficiency of previous grants directed at dropout prevention. We need a change. We need accountability. We need leadership. We need vision in education if we are to solve the problems we face in our state’s public schools. The unfortunate fact is that Democrats are more interested in serving unions and special interests to maintain their power than they are in serving the best interests of children in North Carolina. We can do better and we will do better with Republican leadership in Raleigh.