Fact check: Michele Morrow claims she’s ‘the only teacher’ in NC superintendent race
Michele Morrow, the Republican candidate for North Carolina superintendent of public instruction, claimed she is “the only teacher in this race” in social media posts this week. While Morrow has taught home school, she doesn’t have a teaching license.
The state superintendent of public instruction oversees the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which includes more than 2,500 public schools and around $11 billion in funding. The person also serves as the secretary and chief administrative officer for the State Board of Education.
This year’s race is between Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green, who previously served as an administrator in two of the state’s three biggest school districts, and Michele Morrow, a vocal critic of the state’s public school system.
“As the only teacher in this race, I’m ready to be a strong advocate for every school and every child in our community,” Morrow wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday.
About an hour later, she posted, ”Michele Morrow is the only candidate with real teaching experience. She’ll be a strong advocate for teachers and students with her ‘Students First, Bureaucrats Last’ approach.”
While Morrow homeschools her children and taught other homeschooled kids, she has never taught in the state’s public schools or received the teaching license required for the state’s public school educators.
“Lying about your credentials to win votes is wrong,” Justin Parmenter, a seventh-grade English teacher in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, wrote on X. “Teachers undergo rigorous pedagogical and content training, then background checks before hiring and annual performance reviews/observations after.”
Former State Superintendent June Atkinson also responded to Morrow’s post on X.
“You have no public teaching experience,” Atkinson wrote. “Do you think voters are dumb to post such a claim?”
Morrow told The Charlotte Observer she meant to highlight her experience as a homeschool teacher and contrast that with Green’s education work history, which has been exclusively in administrative and leadership roles.
“I am making a distinction between Mr. Green and myself, as I have experience teaching high schoolers, and Mr. Green does not,” Morrow said. “The people of NC need to know that I have experience in the classroom and will put the needs of students and teachers above the ‘system.’”
Green also hasn’t taught in NC public schools and doesn’t have a teaching license. However, he has worked in the state’s public school system, serving as superintendent of Guilford County Schools from 2008 to 2016. Prior to that, he served as general counsel and deputy superintendent for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.
Morrow is a licensed nurse and former missionary. She previously taught biology, Spanish, chemistry and civics to high schoolers as part of Seek Homeschool Co-op and TCC Homeschool Co-op, according to ivoterguide.com, a website Morrow has pointed to before as giving her a high conservative ranking.
The website says it is “rooted in God” and allows voters to “find out which candidates on your ballot really stand for your biblical values.”
Green says Morrow does not have the needed qualifications or to be state superintendent. He points to Morrow’s lack of experience in North Carolina public schools specifically.
“Morrow is out of touch with the realities of our public schools. She has no experience needed to lead North Carolina’s more than 2,500 public schools, thousands of educators, the learning of over 1.4 million children,” he told The Observer. “I am the only candidate with experience leading some of the largest school systems in North Carolina.”
Morrow’s criticism of public schools
Morrow has previously drawn criticism for her past statements calling public schools “the indoctrination army of socialist Dems.”
Green called Morrow out for her previous statements at a debate in Southern Pines earlier this month, saying the superintendent of public instruction “should believe in our public schools.” He pointed to Morrow’s previous comments disparaging the public school system and referring to teachers “lying” to children.
Morrow argued her lack of experience in NC public schools is an asset.
“I think one of my greatest qualifications is that I have no experience in a failing system that chooses to continue to fund failures,” Morrow said.
The state superintendent race is one of several council of state races that will appear on all ballots. Election Day is Nov. 5, and early voting ends Saturday.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 4:35 PM.
