North Carolina’s governor said Republican proposals on teacher pay, school vouchers and education culture wars are threatening public education.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said Monday the state faces a “public education emergency” if the GOP-controlled General Assembly gets its way with education legislation. He called on people to contact their legislators.

“It’s time to declare a state of emergency for public education in North Carolina. There’s no executive order like with a hurricane or the pandemic, but it’s no less important," the governor said in an address Monday afternoon. "It’s clear that the Republican legislature is aiming to choke the life out of public education."

The state legislature’s session is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks. Republicans, who have supermajorities in both chambers, are finishing up the state budget process.

The General Assembly's top Republicans have not yet responded to Cooper's criticisms.

The current House budget proposals could give teachers about a 10% raise over the next two years. The Senate proposal is for less than half that. The governor argues teachers should get an 18% raise over the two-year budget cycle.

“With over 5,000 teacher vacancies — which leaves tens of thousands of students without a qualified teacher — North Carolina is facing a teacher shortage crisis that puts the success of our students at extreme risk,” the governor’s office said. “We need competitive pay to attract and retain talent in the classroom.”

Currently, the state ranks 46th in the country for beginning teacher pay, the governor said. Average teacher pay in North Carolina ranks 32nd in the United States.

Cooper also criticized Republicans for not putting enough money toward early childhood education and child care in the budget.

The governor also took aim at school vouchers, long a partisan issue in North Carolina. The vouchers pay for children to go to private school instead of traditional public schools. The Republican budget proposals put billions in new funding for voucher programs.

“Their private school voucher scheme will pour your tax money into private schools that are unaccountable to the public and can decide which students they want to keep out," Cooper said. "They want to expand private school vouchers so that anyone — even a millionaire — can get taxpayer money for their children’s private academy tuition."

"If they get their way, our State Board of Education will be replaced by political hacks who can dictate what is taught — and not taught — in our public schools," he said. "North Carolina schools need rigorous science, reading and math classes, not more politicians policing our children’s curriculum with book bans, elimination of science courses and more."

Those proposals include a new partisan body that would set the curriculum for public schools and a bill that would limit what teachers could say about LGBT issues in the classroom.

“North Carolina’s future depends on ensuring that all children receive a good education that prepares them to be successful in the jobs of today and tomorrow. That should be our focus, not making kids fight culture wars and inserting politicians into the classroom,” Cooper’s office said.