The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) is mad at Bev Perdue for proposed budget cuts to public education.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane…

“Bev Perdue has been NCAE’s partner in the effort to improve public education in North Carolina for years. She is a committed, determined leader whose record of support for teachers and the profession is second to none,” NCAE president Eddie Davis said in a statement Saturday. (30 September 2007)

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“Today we celebrate a victory for North Carolina’s children and public education,” says NEA President Reg Weaver. “NCAE and NEA members let their voices be heard in this election. Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue has been a long-time advocate for public education, ensuring that our children have the resources they need to succeed and that North Carolina’s public schoolteachers receive professional pay. Bev Perdue has supported public education, and, today, NEA members were able to return that support.” (7 May 2008)

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“Without a doubt, this has been a historical election season,” said Sheri Strickland, president of the 65,000 plus-member North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE). “Educators across the country–especially here in the Tar Heel state–were energized and mobilized. We’re very proud to have helped deliver victory for these very worthy friends of public education–including members of our very own education family like Bev Perdue and Larry Kissell.” (5 November 2008)

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?NEA wanted to support candidates that would be pro-public education and would look to educators for help in making policy decisions,? N.C. Association of Educators President Sheri Strickland said. (17 November 2008)

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The NCAE has helped Democratic governors such as Mike Easley and Jim Hunt get elected. It made an even more intense effort to elect Perdue.

John Wilson, the NEA executive director and a North Carolina native, said the group spent $2 million in the state, much of it on behalf of Perdue during the primary and general elections. That was more than the NEA spent on any state race in the country — excluding referendum battles over school vouchers.

When Perdue seemed in trouble two weeks before the election, the NEA dispatched 10 staffers to North Carolina to help.

“We have a high level of confidence in her,” said Wilson. “When you couple that with her opponent, who supported vouchers, which we believe undermines the schools, it just generated even greater support.” (29 November 2008)