Letters to the Editor

Morrow unfit to lead our schools

To the Editor:

Michele Morrow is the Republican candidate for N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction. Think long and hard before voting for her. She educated her children at home (starting with a child that needed different learning strategies, which I applaud), and then via parent-led teaching coops.

She has no teaching credentials, public school experience, or administrative/management experience. She ran for a seat on the local school board and lost. Not a great resume to run the $11 billion N.C. public school system.

Her website is short on details, so what she doesn’t say is likely more important that what she does say. She has no policy suggestions to improve public education. Her only three issues are supporting academically underserved students by teaching them to read and write and creating more school-to- work programs; improving school safety by reviewing existing protocols and improving on them (something I am pretty sure schools already do); and finally, teaching critical thinking because “our children are being groomed, manipulated, and harmed in pursuit of future political power and ideological oppression.” Ironically, a sentence that can be unpacked both ways! This from a woman with a selfie video of her in Washington, D.C. on Jan 6, explaining she is there to support President Trump who had the 2020 election stolen from him. Wow! Eye-opening and not in a good way. Actually, educating young people to be free thinkers does not appear to be a real goal. It gets worse.

Her social media posts call for “executing” many people, including Obama (via a pay-per-view telecast of his firing squad), Roy Cooper, Hilary Clinton, Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.  She wants Americans to “follow the Constitution and kill all Traitors.” Nope. It is the US Code of Federal Regulations that prescribes traitors’ punishments. Incidentally, the Constitution defines a traitor only as waging war against the U.S. or helping an enemy do so; not something any of these people have done. And she taught civics at her school co-op! She displays ignorance and animosity towards those of us not white, straight and living a moral life, which is presumably how she would approach educating our children, many of whom are not white, straight or embracing her version of morality.

Mo Green, the Democratic candidate, has been superintendent of Guilford County schools; chief executive of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation; and general counsel for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district.  

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Under his leadership Guilford County earned state and national recognition for improved academic performance, increased graduation rates and character development/service learning. Through his tenure at Z. Smith Reynolds, Mr. Green gained significant experience relevant to the education of our children, including the positive impacts of athletics, art, and community involvement and the devastating impacts of poverty. He understands public education, and his career validates his commitment to improving the lives of young people.

Please, for the sake of the children of North Carolina, vote for Mo Green (D) for Superintendent of Public Education.

Karen Patterson

Highlands    

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