Dems doubling down on education

by John Wynne, Politics NC, June 22, 2015.

State Democrats are doubling down on education as their major issue heading into 2016. While the General Assembly has passed contentious laws relating to abortion, gay marriage, and the environment, most Democratic communication is directed toward the legislature’s plans for schools.

Focusing on education is always a good message for either party because it cuts across lines that tend to divide people – urban/rural, rich/poor, black/white. Everybody wants the government to do a good job educating the future generation. Most people aren’t ideologues and even Republican-leaning voters can be swayed if convinced that their party is doing the schools a disservice.

The Democrats’ message on education was somewhat effective in 2014. They picked up several seats in the State House and it nearly cost Thom Tillis his Senate race. Democrats and Hagan made claims that Republicans had cut millions of dollars from the public schools. Tillis and the Republicans responded that the claims were false and the legislature had actually given teachers raises.

In the end, these competing messages left voters thinking that while Democrats might have been exaggerating, the GOP had not done a stellar job on education. But in light of national events that overshadowed the issue, voters decided to elect Tillis anyway and a Republican wave prevented more losses in the legislature.

The probable absence of such a GOP tide, along with high turnout in the presidential election, makes many Democrats hopeful that continuing to slam the legislature on education will be beneficial for them. The GOP should be prepared to face the coming assault, particularly Pat McCrory, who will be held accountable if the state is perceived as going backward in education.

The General Assembly realizes the importance of the education issue. Both the proposed budgets contain benefits for teachers. The House budget gives a 2% across-the-board pay increase for teachers and all other state employees. The Senate budget is more complicated and could provide larger raises but would also result in the layoffs of a number of teaching assistants.

Some conservatives argue that there’s no evidence that teacher assistants cause increased student performance, and the money should be spent to lower class sizes. Democrats say there’s no reason why the state can’t do both at the same time and that should be the priority instead of giving another tax cut to corporations. Conservatives respond that the tax cut is needed to revitalize the economy and create jobs. Et cetera, et cetera.

It remains to be seen how the debate will play itself out, and the General Assembly hasn’t even agreed on what course to take yet. But needless to say, education will be a major issue next year. The GOP will need to pass a budget that supports public education. The hard part will be communicating that message to the voters next year.