RALEIGH, N.C. — As campaigns ramp up voter outreach in North Carolina, one race many are focusing on is the race to lead North Carolina’s public school system. Republican hopeful Michele Morrow and Democratic candidate Mo Green are running for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Mo Green credits his mom, who was a special education teacher, for his admiration for educators and the public education system as a whole. The Duke University graduate started his professional career in the judicial system as a lawyer, transitioning to general counsel for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2001.
Green describes himself as a champion for public education, but he stills believes there are things that can and should be improved upon.
This may be the first political office Green has run for but, having served as the superintendent of Guilford County Schools for seven years and working for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, he’s very comfortable in the world of public education.
“The thing that I always think about, when I think about public education, is the transformative value that it has,” Green said.
Green, who has spent much of his career in philanthropy, now has his sights set on a state level political post leading the Department of Public Instruction and making decisions for kids in classrooms across the state.
“So this focus on certainly, knowledge acquisition being critically important, but also development of character being equally as important,” Green said.
Education remains a top expense in the state budget year after year, but Green argues there’s more work to be done in properly funding public education.
“We’re about $5,000 or so, per student, below the national average. You think about our teachers, our beginning teachers, we’re 46th in the entire country with regards to what we pay our teachers, our beginner teachers,” Green said.
After winning the primary in this highly contested race, Green reflected on the commitment people have made to public education.
“Our schools didn’t become these bright beacons of hope all on their own. Generations of North Carolinians have made the choice to invest in them and make them strong,” Green said.
Green also says he doesn’t support the Parents Bill of Rights law. It bans discussions of sexuality and gender identity in kindergarten through 4th grade and requires schools to tell parents if students change their pronouns. He says it does more harm than good.
“The title itself raises a deep concern for me, because it might suggest to many that parents don’t already have a lot of access to our schools, that our schools are somehow not welcoming. And then there has to be sort of this enumerated set of rights provided to parents so they can engage with public schools. That’s a false narrative,” Green said.
In fact, Green believes a majority of decision making around public schools should be left to those with experience in the field, which would include an overall curriculum plan being established and then allowing educators as much freedom as possible when it comes to teaching that material.
“There are opportunities for local school systems, once the standard courses of study are set, to develop how they want to teach various subjects and, they know their communities well, what will work in their communities,” Green said.
But, he says, don’t take his calls for action as criticisms of public schools. Green says he’s a staunch advocate and believes there are already countless positive things that deserve recognition.
“We’ve got to be sure that folks truly understand how much good does happen, even while we absolutely have room to improve and must improve here is a lot that that that’s worthy of daily celebration,” Green said.
Green also says there should be adequate and differentiated resources to prepare all students for life after they graduate, whether they go to college, trade school, join the military or go straight to work.
Spectrum News 1 also talked with the Republican hopeful in this race, Michele Morrow, to get her perspective on this issue of preparing students for the real world.
“I really think that our schools, this is the future of our state. If we are not preparing our children to be critical thinkers, to be problem solvers, to be able to handle conflict and then we are really doing ourselves a disservice because these are going to be the future leaders in North Carolina. And what I’m seeing is public schools, the majority of parents want their children to be in a public school. That’s kind of the easiest, you know, road to go,” Morrow said.