Governor Cooper Highlights Support for Public Schools as Students Return to the Classroom

Governor Cooper Declared 2024 The Year of Public Schools

Aug 23, 2024

With a new school year beginning in North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper will continue highlighting the outstanding work being done in North Carolina public schools and urging the legislature to fully fund public education and make meaningful investments in teacher pay.

Governor Cooper declared 2024 as "The Year of Public Schools" and has visited dozens of public schools and early childhood education programs across the state, speaking with teachers, students, administrators and other public school advocates. As the new school year ramps up, Governor Cooper will continue traveling the state to highlight the amazing things happening in North Carolina public schools and calling for investments in K-12 education, early childhood education and teacher pay.

"Visiting public schools across the state, I have seen firsthand the amazing things happening in our public schools and how hard our educators and students work," said Governor Cooper. "As The Year of Public Schools continues, I will keep urging the legislature to fully fund public schools and make meaningful investments in early childhood education and teacher pay."

In the past eight months, Governor Cooper has visited communities across the state highlighting the wonderful things happening in North Carolina public schools:

• North Carolina has the highest number of National Board-certified teachers in the country.
• In the 2022-2023 school year, North Carolina public school students earned over 325,000 workforce credentials.
• More than one-third of high school graduates take at least one college course for credit, preparing them for meaningful careers that boost our communities.
• In 2023, North Carolina students outpaced the national average of number of students taking Advanced Placement exams and the number of students receiving a proficient score of 3 or higher.
• The graduation rate in 2023 was 87%, one of the highest numbers in our state's history.
• Since 2019, at least four North Carolina educators were recognized nationally for their great work: national school psychologist, counselor, superintendent, and a finalist for national teacher of the year.

Despite the success of public schools, Republican legislators continue to push harmful policies that undermine and underfund public education. Republican leaders of the House and Senate agreed to spend an additional $460 million on private school vouchers that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest demographic in the state before pausing negotiations. Funds that Republican legislators plan to allocate to their voucher scheme could be used to invest in public schools, including providing a substantial pay raise for teachers.

In April, Governor Cooper released his recommended budget for FY 2024-2025, Securing North Carolina's Future which would invest over $1 billion in North Carolina's public schools, raise teacher pay by 8.5% and provide a $1,500 retention bonus for teachers across the board.

Read "The Year of Public Schools" proclamation here.

Read more about the truth of North Carolina's voucher program here.

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Related Topics:

• Education

Jordan Monaghan

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(919) 814-2100