A recent article by former teacher James Hogan has caused quite a stir in the state. It’s also apparently causing heartburn for Republicans. Hogan carefully details the damage done to North Carolina public schools since the GOP took control of the state.

Yesterday, two Republicans responded to Hogan. Instead of outlining any real progress on education, they unleashed a revisionist history that ignores the complaints of education leaders of all parties.

According to Representatives Craig Horn and Rob Bryan, before Republicans took over, Democrats “had cut education to the bone and beyond.” In fact, only the 2010 budget cut per pupil spending. Every budget before that had increased spending. But if they were telling the truth, then the GOP must have performed massive amputations since spending continued to fall precipitously under  Republican rule, leaving the state at the bottom of nation in spending. Per pupil spending is still well below pre-recession spending.

While Republicans have increased teacher pay for starting teachers, they’ve stiffed our most experienced ones and caused a lot of teachers to leave the profession. They cut our public universities by more than 20% and at UNC-CH they “eliminated 493 positions, cut 16,000 course seats, increased class sizes, cut its centrally supported computer labs from seven to three, and eliminated two distance education centers.”

Horn and Bryan ramble on about digital learning and charter schools but ignore the critics from both parties. In addition to the Hogan article, GOP school board members have accused legislators from their party of “dismantling our public school system.” Craig and Horn like to call it “transforming.” It’s kind of like destroying the village to save it.

It’s not just their telling of the education story that’s flawed. It’s their whole version of what’s happened to the state. They take credit for the AAA bond rating, which Democrats maintained and Republicans may lose if they successfully push their TABOR amendment. They brag about the lackluster job growth and the wages that are still far below pre-recession levels.

In essence, Horn and Bryan have given us a peek into the alternative reality where Republicans live. They seem to really believe in the Carolina Comeback, even if most of the state isn’t feeling it. They’re proud of the harm they’ve done to public schools despite the cries from education advocates from both parties. They quite clearly fixed problems that didn’t exist and caused ones that now do. They don’t really have a success story so they’ve had to make one up. 

Thomas Mills

Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >