On Thursday, Democrat North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper hosted a roundtable discussion to highlight what he called “the extreme Republican plans to undermine and underfund public education in North Carolina,” attacking the “unaccountable private school vouchers for the wealthy that will hurt our public schools.”
Cooper neglected to mention that he has sent at least one of his three daughters to Saint Mary’s School, an expensive private school in Raleigh, as A.P Dillon of the North State Journal has reported.
In terms of folks being able to send their kids to the private school of their choice using an Opportunity Scholarship, it's worth remembering Cooper sent one of his daughters to St. Mary's, a private school with hefty tuition cost.https://t.co/L7Lwr6mB1p
— A.P. Dillon (@APDillon_) April 4, 2023
“The proposed voucher program expansion would pour billions of dollars in taxpayer money into private schools that are unaccountable to the public and can decide which students they want to admit,” Cooper stated in a press release. “Their plan would expand private school vouchers so anyone – even a millionaire – can get taxpayer money for their children’s private school tuition.
In May, Cooper declared a “state of emergency” to prevent the legislature from passing a school choice bill.
“It’s time to declare a state of emergency for public education in North Carolina. There’s no executive order like with a hurricane or the pandemic, but it’s no less important,” Cooper said. “It’s clear that the Republican legislature is aiming to choke the life out of public education. I’m declaring this state of emergency because you need to know what’s happening. If you care about public schools in North Carolina, it’s time to take immediate action and tell them to stop the damage that will set back our schools for a generation.”
In a press release from 2017, St. Mary’s noted that Cooper’s daughter Natalie graduated from the school in 2011.
Jason Williams, executive director of the NC Faith and Freedom Coalition, has slammed Cooper for his actions against private schools, saying, “Why doesn’t Roy Cooper want your child to have the same quality, private education his kid had? If he believed so much in public education, why did he spend thousands for his own kid to avoid it?”
“We do have a state of emergency with our public school system. The problem with Gov. Cooper’s state of emergency is the focus is on the wrong thing,” he continued. “The true emergency is the leftist attempts to indoctrinate our children and the failure to adequately educate them.”
School choice advocate Corey DeAngelis tweeted, “This hypocrite sent his own kid to a private school. We’re freeing families from the clutches of the teachers unions once and for all & there’s nothing he can do about it.”
BREAKING: North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declares a STATE OF EMERGENCY to fight against school choice.
This hypocrite sent his own kid to a private school.
We're freeing families from the clutches of the teachers unions once and for all & there's nothing he can do about it. pic.twitter.com/m4bbcpiEIx
— Corey A. DeAngelis, school choice evangelist (@DeAngelisCorey) May 22, 2023