Last year North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper raised a lot of eyebrows when he issued a proclamation celebrating January 23rd to 29th 2022, as School Choice Week in North Carolina.
Considering the governor’s strong opposition to school choice, the proclamation caught a lot of people off guard. Many wondered aloud—How did that happen?
Well, it seems someone just asked. According to Spectrum News, Rhonda Dillingham, Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Public Charter Schools, for years asked the state’s chief executive to write a proclamation for School Choice Week. Most of the time, she was turned down, but not last year.
With School Choice Week upon us, it’s natural to ask: Will Governor Cooper issue another proclamation?
The signs don’t look encouraging.
Last years’ proclamation was dated .January 13th, a full ten days before school choice week (January 23rd-29th) even began. This year School Choice Week is January 22 to 28th, 2023. As of January 23rd, the governor has not issued a proclamation.
Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? Maybe not.
If you visit the governor’s website, access the news button and click “Proclamations,” you see the Governor has recently issued proclamations for Dr. Martin Luther King Day, Tamil Language and Culture Month, and North Carolina Year of the Trail (2023), but no proclamation for School Choice Week.
A simple search for the Governor’s 2022 School Choice Proclamation also reveals no results.
Yes, it’s been scrubbed from the site.
There is an old saying from Aesop: “After all is said and done, more is said than done.” That is certainly true here.
This year over 400,000 students attend charter, private, and home schools across North Carolina. Parents know the profound impact those choices have made on their children’s lives. Those benefits are one of the many reasons why this year thousands will happily celebrate school choice in North Carolina, whether there is a proclamation from the governor—or not.
