NCAE
NEWS BULLETIN November
2016
NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS
Volume 47, No. 4
Every Phone Call, Every Door Knock, Every Conversation
What We Did Mattered!
To use a sports analogy, many educators left it on the field this election season by going All In for Public Education. NCAE members made thousands of phone calls, knocked on hundreds of doors each weekend, and passed out tens of thousands of Apple Cards to voters at the polls for pro-public education candidates. NCAE members in their blue shirts or We Heart Public School shirts were seen around the world standing up for public education as many campaign events were televised each night. The spotlight was on North Carolina as the number one battleground state in the country for the presidential race and the governor’s race. While the presidential race did not go the way we had hoped, NEA and NCAE were proud to stand with Hillary Clinton because of her lifetime of commitment to our children and public education. Thank you to each of you for all of your hard work and the countless hours of dedication to this campaign. With razor thin margins in the race for governor and attorney general, every single one of these actions is the reason NCAE’s endorsed candidates Roy Cooper and Josh Stein were able to claim victory early Wednesday morning. Every conversation mattered. Cooper’s campaign released this statement, “This has been an extremely hard fought race, but the people of North Carolina have spoken and they have chosen a change in leadership. We are confident once the results are certified we will confirm tonight’s victory.” Because of the narrow margin of victory, a recount of votes is possible and NCAE will do anything it can to ensure a fair and accurate process so that Governor-Elect Cooper is inaugurated in January, and that Josh Stein is sworn in
More photos from the countless volunteer hours are available on the NCAE Flickr site.
as North Carolina’s next attorney general. A Cooper governorship will start off with major challenges as both chambers of the General Assembly were able to maintain a Republican supermajority. However, a Cooper governorship also provides a much needed check-and-balance to the rubber stamping going on right now between Jones Street and the governor’s office. Another race of tremendous importance to NCAE was for the North Carolina Supreme Court. Judge Mike Morgan, who NCAE endorsed, was a clear cut winner on Tuesday night and flips the 4-3 majority on the court. So while there is stunned disbelief on what happened nationally in the presidential race, three of NCAE’s top electoral goals were achieved: taking back the governor’s
mansion, holding the attorney general seats, and flipping the state supreme court. In other statewide races, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson is trailing narrowly to Mark Johnson, but the margin may be too wide for a recount. Dale Folwell defeated Dan Blue for state treasurer. Dan Forest was elected to a second term as lieutenant governor over Linda Coleman. It will take weeks to really analyze the outcomes of this election and to reflect on anything that could have been done differently. However, there is always one thing for certain: Educators will continue to fight to ensure ALL of our students have the opportunity to be successful and that they will grow up in a world of acceptance, love, and kindness.