Summer is ending, and with it comes a new school year. While students are settling into the classroom, education continues to be one of the dividing lines of the 2024 election cycle.
On the ballot, Michele Morrow, the Republican candidate for superintendent of public instruction, has drawn national headlines for her comments online and elsewhere. This includes referring to public schools as indoctrination centers and suggesting on social media that prominent Democrats should be executed.
Higher up the ticket, GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson has also criticized the state of public schools. He recently said federal education dollars come with too many obligations.
All of this comes as our schools have been the center of the culture wars over book bans, gender identity and more.
For their part, Democrats have been supportive of public education. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein has said culture wars are hurting the state as a whole. And then there's school vouchers, which have been another political dividing line in Raleigh.
On the next Charlotte Talks, as a new school year begins, we look at the role education is playing in the 2024 election.
GUESTS:
Colin Campbell, capitol bureau chief at WUNC
Ann Doss Helms, WFAE education reporter
