Education

As Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, I have worked hard to make sure that every child has access to a quality education. I want our education system to be the strongest in the country and that starts with excellent teachers. While we have made great progress, there is still much more work to do.

Last year we increased education spending by $1.5 billion because I know our children need more resources.
We educate our children almost identical to how we did 100 years ago. We need innovation and reform within our public school system. I authored legislation to create the first Renewal School District in the United States that provides an entire school district the funding and curriculum flexibility to meet the needs of all their students.
I support allowing teachers more control over their classroom, implementing elevated teaching roles, and providing today’s technology in the hands of every student.
I have aggressively supported and voted for teacher raises every year I have served in the Senate. Additionally, we created a new $100 million state supplement allotment for teachers across North Carolina and including New Hanover County. I will continue to invest in our educators.
I also know that coming out of the pandemic, we have a mental health crisis with our youth. That is why I spearheaded a new state allotment and almost $10 million to hire more School Psychologists for our children.
We need transparency, accountability and parent involvement in our education system. I believe that parents must play an active role in their children’s education in order for them to succeed and I will continue to make it as easy as possible for parents to do so.
I have been a strong supporter of North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship, which provides low and middle-income families with scholarships to a school of their choice if the local public school doesn’t meet their needs.
I have worked to expand Personal Education Savings Accounts and Disability Grants for children with disabilities to give these children the opportunities they don’t currently have in the public school system. We made progress on eliminating the waitlist in the last two years and we will continue to do so until all these children have the flexibility to tailor services to their specific learning challenges