On March 5, 2024, Republican Michele Morrow* won the primary election to be the next North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction. Some PC students may have known about the election because our very own Mr. Crumble ran in this election as well. What students aren’t aware of is the possible changes that will come with having a new superintendent, especially someone who has very different goals for the NC school system than her main opponent, Democrat Mo Green.

The major goals that Morrow has promoted in her campaign is the limiting of chromebook use, a return to textbooks, and implementation of a plan to allow non-education majors to become teachers if they have completed college or have marketplace experience. She hopes these plans will deal with the teacher crisis North Carolina has been experiencing for some time now and steer children on the path of traditional education.

A poll conducted by PCNN looked into this topic. We provided the students with some overview of her general goals to inform them on the topic. We also included a quote from Morrow in a candidate questionnaire panel during which she stated the following: “The only diversity and equity our schools should be promoting is diversity of ideas.”

Students were then able to anonymously submit their thoughts about these possible changes and be honest about their own opinions, like what they think may change if Morrow is elected come November.

Several students raised concerns about her comment on diversity in schools. One response said that the “lack of outward acceptance for diversity “ may “limit how comfortable students feel in their school environment.”

Another student based their thoughts off of “how other Republican leaders have spoken in recent times”, saying that “there will probably be a change in how we talk about subjects such as diversity, inclusivity, and generally less of a tolerance in non-traditional ideas for school”. They also included the thought that NC will move to “more conservative ideals for the education of students.”

In regards to Morrow’s goal of restricting chromebook use, five students agreed that chromebooks could stand to be limited. They reported that having chromebooks “creates a very disconnected learning environment” and that having them accessible with “no control on how we use [them]” makes students “tend not to ask or rely on teachers for learning.” 

Other students agreed with Morrow’s message, but not to the degree that she has in mind. One response said “Her [Morrow’s] ideas could easily limit students’ ability to effectively learn, take notes, and access well-organized documents.” 

A compromise was proposed by another student: “I think that there should be an even mix of chromebook and textbook/paper use to help with these issues.”

Even with these students attempting to bridge the gap, there was still an overwhelming 79% of responses that disagreed with Morrow’s view that pencil/paper is better for learning for chromebooks.

The other issue addressed was Morrow’s plan to handle the teacher crisis. Surprisingly, 84% of respondents have experienced having a teacher they thought to be unqualified for their position at some time in their school career. With this staggering percentage, it is no shock that almost 60% of respondents did not agree with Morrow’s plan of inserting teachers without a teaching degree into North Carolina classrooms.

With so many opinions coming from these students, you would think that they would be aware of the situation of the election for the NC Superintendent. However, only 10% of respondents had even heard of the recent primary election, and an 80% majority of students weren’t aware of the goals of the candidates prior to the information given to them before taking the poll. This is to say that more PC and North Carolina students should be aware of the possible changes that will affect the overwhelming majority of them in the coming years. 

There is a way to have control over this decision and over your education. Encourage your parents, teachers, and other adults in your life to vote for a Superintendent candidate in the November election that reflects what they want to see in the future for NC schools. Make your voice heard, and get informed!

*PCNN reached out to Morrow for an interview, but no response came from her campaign team.