I was shocked when I read that this contest is a dead heat. How can that be? Why would anyone vote for someone who has only disdain for public education to lead the state’s education system?

School’s in session. Sit up and pay attention. Our schools and our school children are in danger. We are at risk of electing someone as state superintendent of public education who doesn’t believe in public education.

Michele Morrow has no history with public education; she home schooled her own children. To educate them, she took them to the Stop the Steal that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection and called for federal troops to keep Trump in power. She calls public school indoctrination centers and encourages parents not to send their children to them. She has advocated public execution of President Obama and imprisonment for President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Senate leader Chuck Schumer among other “traitors.”

The superintendent of public instruction is responsible for recommending policies and academic standards updates to the state board of education, which votes on them. The department manages the distribution and tracking of more than $13 billion in state and federal funding. Morrow supports cutting off North Carolina’s federal funds for schools and isn’t convinced that North Carolina schools need any more resources. She wants to reduce non-academic programs, presumably vocational programs that serve thousands of students.

Morrow’s opponent, Mo Green, is a former superintendent of Guilford County Schools and administrator in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. He is a lawyer by training. He has demonstrated his commitment to public education. He is running on working for more resources, teaching students good character, fostering increasing respect for teachers, advocating and improving academics by focusing on offering services that can meet the varying needs of each student. He lists parents and community support and safe, secure learning environments among his top priorities.

I was shocked when I read that this contest is a dead heat. How can that be? Why would anyone vote for someone who has only disdain for public education to lead the state’s education system? I can only hope that the sound of the last bell ringing will wake them up.

Nan Lund