(The Center Square) – With an election process underway, a Wake County Democrat wants to change the rules before North Carolina’s more than 7.4 million voters decide their schools superintendent choice in November.
State Sen. Jay Chaudhuri filed a bill this week that, if made law, would change requirements for the office of state superintendent of public instruction. His proposal would immediately disqualify the Republican primary winner.
According to the bill language, to be state superintendent, an individual “must have at least one year of experience as a teacher or school administrator” in North Carolina or be “a member of a local board of education of the state Board of Education.” Implementation, if it becomes law, would be immediate and apply to the person in the position with no grandfather clause.
In March, the Republican primary was won by Michele Morrow over incumbent Catherine Truitt 52.1%-47.9%. The Democratic primary was won by Mo Green (65.9%) over Katie Eddings (24.9%) and Kenon Crumble (9.2%).
Chaudhuri’s proposal was immediately parked in the chamber’s rules committee and is not expected to escape. The Senate majority is Republicans 30-20. Sen. Lisa Grafstein, D-Wake, joined him in sponsorship of the legislation.
The 10 Council of State offices are each four-year terms, and only the attorney general’s office has qualifications tied to the duties. Those running for governor, lieutenant governor, commissioners of agriculture and insurance, the secretaries of state and labor, the auditor, the treasurer and the superintendent of public instruction do not.
For example, 20 years ago, Republican Les Merritt became the first certified public accountant elected state auditor. Democrat Beth Wood, also a CPA and employed in his office, unseated him in 2008 and stayed in the job until her resignation in 2023.
Her appointed successor by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, however, is not a CPA. Jessica Holmes, who is running this fall for the post, is a lawyer by trade and was unsuccessful reaching the Council of State as a candidate for labor commissioner in 2020.
The attorney general didn’t have to be required to practice law until a 1984 amendment to the state constitution. Farmer isn’t defined, but the agriculture commissioner and members of the Board of Agriculture “shall be practicing farmers engaged in their profession.”
County school boards in North Carolina tend to favor choosing a superintendent with an educational doctorate. That’s something Truitt didn’t and wasn’t required to have in 2020 by voters. It’s also something Green didn’t have when Guilford County, a large system anchored in Greensboro, in 2015 named him their superintendent.
His credentials then were lawyer and two years as an educational administrator.
Morrow homeschools her children. She’s never been a traditional schoolteacher or administrator or served on an education board.
