Both NC parties have primaries in March school superintendent’s race
School choice, funding, CRT among issues
The battle to lead North Carolina’s public schools is putting issues such as school choice, education funding, learning loss, Critical Race Theory and the Parents’ Bill of Rights in voters’ faces.
The two Republican candidates for state superintendent of public instruction are positioning themselves as conservatives who largely support the education decisions taken by the GOP-led General Assembly. The three Democratic candidates are running as critics of state lawmakers.
Incumbent Republican Superintendent Catherine Truitt and Democrat Mo Green are the clear fundraising leaders. But they’ll need to win the March 5 primary to face off against each other in November.
“I’d definitely call them the frontrunners,” David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College and director of the Meredith Poll, said in an interview. “If it’s a mid-30s (percent) turnout race then frontrunners will usually win.
“But things could happen. It could be a really low turnout year. It looks likely that Green and Truitt will win their primaries.”
The superintendent is the head of the state Department of Public Instruction. That puts the superintendent in the role of overseeing public school systems in the state.
The superintendent has gained more power since 2016. State lawmakers shifted power away from the State Board of Education after Democrat Roy Cooper was elected governor.
For instance, the superintendent will take over the administration of high school athletics if an agreement can’t be reached with the N.C. High School Athletic Association or another organization.
The incumbent
Truitt, 53, was elected superintendent in 2020. She has been a classroom teacher, school turnaround coach, senior education advisor to former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and chancellor of the online Western Governors University North Carolina.
Truitt began during the COVID-19 pandemic, where she pushed for all schools to reopen quicker for in-person instruction.
She lobbied for the state’s adoption of the “science of reading,” a phonics-based approach to teaching reading that every elementary school teacher is being required to learn. Truitt has credited the new training with helping to improve reading scores among elementary school students.
Truitt has backed increasing teacher pay. But, over the objections of the N.C. Association of Educators, Truitt supports a plan that would pay teachers based on their effectiveness, such as their students’ test scores, instead of their years of experience.
Truitt supported the new state law barring transgender females from playing on girls’ sports teams. She also supported the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which prevents instruction on gender identity in early grades, among other regulations,but has drawn complaints from some for getting state lawmakers to give school districts an extension to Jan. 1 for following the law.
Republican challenger Michele Morrow, 52, is calling herself “the only conservative” running in the Republican primary for state superintendent. The registered nurse, home-school parent and former missionary is an activist working with groups such as Liberty First Grassroots and the Pavement Education Project.
Morrow was among the Trump supporters who protested in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, but says she did not storm the Capitol Building. During her unsuccessful run for the Wake County school board in 2022, Morrow apologized for past social media posts such as saying “ban Islam” and “ban Muslims from elected offices.”
She says her plan is to “Make Academics Great Again” in North Carolina by prioritizing scholastics and safety over Critical Race Theory and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Morrow has accused public schools of indoctrinating students, “teaching children to hate our country” and training students in “transgender theory.”
Democratic primary
The Democratic primary has been less contentious, as Green runs against Kenon Crumble and Katie Eddings.
Green, 56, is an attorney who went on to become superintendent of Guilford County Schools before retiring as executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. Green’s endorsements include former governors Jim Hunt and Bev Perdue, former state Superintendent June Atkinson and U.S. Reps. Alma Adams, Kathy Manning and Deborah Ross.
Green lists among his campaign pillars fully investing in public education, revering public school educators and celebrating the good in public education.
Crumble, 46, is a Wake County assistant principal who unsuccessfully ran for the Johnston County school board in 2020. His strategic plan calls for revolutionizing the infrastructure inside school buildings, enhancing teacher recruitment and compensation and implementing universal pre-kindergarten.
Eddings, 62, is a Lee County high school teacher and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. Much of her platform revolves around improving teacher retention, recruitment and compensation, including increasing pay for both new teachers and experienced educators.
Campaign finance reports show Green had raised more than $227,000,compared to less than $2,000 for Crumble and just $375 for Eddings.
How to vote in the primary
Registered Democrats and Republicans will vote their party’s ballot in the March 5 election. Unaffiliated voters can choose which party’s ballot to vote.
There are no third-party candidates running for state superintendent this year.