She has never worked in a public school and has referred to them as “indoctrination centers.” She attended the riot at the U.S. Capitol and called for former President Donald Trump to use military force to stay in power. She has been known to use hashtags affiliated with the conspiracy theory QAnon.
Yet after defeating the incumbent in a Super Tuesday primary, Michele Morrow is the Republican nominee for North Carolina superintendent. Morrow will be running against Democrat Maurice (Mo) Green.
If elected, she would be responsible for a $12 billion budget, 115 school districts and 1.36 million public school students. Concern around her campaign has grown since she became the party's nominee.
“We believe that Morrow is uniquely unqualified for this position to serve public school students and educators across the state,” Tamika Walker Kelly, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, told me.
I wanted to talk to Morrow more about her stances and thoughts on public education. After interviewing her, I worry about what it would mean for my home state of North Carolina – and the country, more broadly – if she were elected. Her rise in prominence is running parallel to parents' rights movements across the country that threaten to destroy public education.
When Morrow ran for Wake County's school board in 2022, she referred to public schools as “socialism centers” and “indoctrination centers.” Her own five children have attended public and private schools in other states, but have been homeschooled since moving to North Carolina. At one point, she told people not to send their children to public schools.
Morrow told me she stood by her claim that schools were indoctrinating children.
“Children believe any adult that is put in front of them,” Morrow told me. “And if we are telling children to be divided by the color of their skin, if we are putting politics into the classroom, if we are........