Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper launched a campaign Monday to try to push back on education and tax legislation from the Republican-controlled General Assembly, which he says, if passed, would destroy North Carolina’s public schools and shatter the state’s economic future.

“It’s clear that the Republican legislature is seeking to stifle public education,” Cooper said in a taped speech released Monday. He urged voters to “take immediate action and tell them to stop the damage that will set our schools back for a generation.”

In his video message, Cooper said he was “declaring a state of emergency” for public education, but indicated that it was not an official order. He urged residents to encourage their legislators to reject a spate of GOP-backed education bills in the final weeks of this year’s main legislative session. Parliament’s agenda for the coming weeks includes adoption of the state budget for the year from 1 July.

In the coming days, the Governor will hold public events across the state to rally parents, educators and business leaders.

Cooper said Republican public school teacher pay proposals fell short of expectations and would not solve the state’s teacher shortage. He argued that deeper income tax cuts in competing House and Senate Budget Proposals it would also benefit those on the highest wages, eventually emptying the public treasury.

At the same time, the Republican Party is moving towards a dramatic expansion state scholarship program for private schools K-12 so that families with any income level can receive financial assistance, and not just the poor and the middle class.

This expansion will ultimately funnel over $500 million in taxpayer money annually to the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Instead, the Governor said the Senate budget would increase the base pay of some veteran teachers by as little as $250 over two years.

“They have clearly abandoned public schools and instead decided to fund private schools,” Cooper told The Associated Press ahead of the speech. “This is a deliberate slap in the face for teachers.”

Republicans point out that their competing plans would see government spending on education rise by several hundred million dollars a year. And GOP leaders see expanding the private school voucher program as part of the philosophy of giving all children access to educational opportunities—regardless of source—to help them succeed.

Rep. Trisha Cotham of Mecklenburg County, whose recent change of party from Democrat to Republican gave the Republican Party a majority of seats in both houses, dismissing Cooper’s speech as “political theater”.

“The Governor stands for the systems, not for the students themselves,” Cotham said. tweet. “Education is not universal, and North Carolina families should be free to determine what education is best for them.”

Randy Brechbeel, press secretary for Senate Leader Phil Berger, shared similar criticism, noting that “pointless publicity stunts do nothing to improve education outcomes in our state.”

Cooper’s use governor’s hooligan department is because his ability to resist legislatures has been greatly weakened in the weeks since Catham changed the party. He said he would issue a loud call for education even if he had significant legislative backing to enforce his veto because education is critical to the state’s financial health. The public school system is often the largest employer in rural areas and prepares students for work.

“The general public is not aware of the impending disaster,” he told the AP.

The House proposal would raise average teachers’ salaries by 10.2% over two years, compared to 4.5% in the Senate’s plan, trailing recent inflation rates. Cooper’s budget proposal called for an average increase of 18%.

The Governor also accused lawmakers of doing little to expand the state’s early childhood education program for at-risk children and stabilize child care centers. And he warned of a proposed constitutional amendment that, if put to a vote, would make it impossible for him to appoint almost all members of the State Board of Education. Instead, members will be chosen in district elections.

“If they get their way,” he said in his speech, “our State Board of Education will be replaced by political hacks who can dictate what is taught and what is not taught in our public schools.”

Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination this week, will have to quickly prove himself a formidable opponent of leader and former President Donald Trump.

Iowa and its evangelical voter base may provide Mr. DeSantis with the best opportunity to strike Mr. Trump, who has achieved a huge lead over all of his GOP opponents in national polls, while aggressively attacking the Florida governor as weak. enemy.

Mr. Trump last week may have helped Mr. DeSantis rally support in Iowa when he criticized as “too harsh” a Florida law the governor recently signed into law that bans abortions after six weeks. Mr Trump told The Messenger that “many in the pro-life movement” felt the six-week ban was excessive.

Abortion supporters in Hawkeye State, who in the past made up the majority of all voters in the GOP caucus in Iowa, listened. And frowns.

“No Mr. Former President, many in the ProLife community don’t find saving babies too cruel,” tweeted Bob Vander Plaats, head of The Family Leader, the state’s leading Christian organization. “The door to the Iowa caucus has just been flung open.”

In the Republican Party’s primary calendar, which is still being drafted, Iowa is listed as the nation’s first primary presidential contest. While the January 8 date for the Iowa GOP caucus is tentative, the state is likely to offer the very first face-off between Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis.

“It would be great if DeSantis beat him,” said Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University in Des Moines.

A big win in Iowa, or even “a touchdown within earshot” of Mr. Trump, Goldford said would help Mr. DeSantis gain momentum in the next crucial primaries in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

“But if Trump just crushes him 2-1 or something like that, then DeSantis is in trouble,” he said.

Mr. Trump lost the 2016 Iowa caucuses to Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who ran to his right and enlisted the support of the state’s evangelicals.

This time around, Mr. DeSantis’ uncompromising support for ending abortion has done away with Iowa’s pro-life evangelical voters, who made up more than two-thirds of GOP voters who turned out in 2016.

Not only do they agree with Mr. DeSantis on a ban on abortion, but they support him on social issues, including his decision to sign laws to ban teaching of LGBTQ issues in public schools and to ban biological men from participating in women’s sports or using women’s public lockers. . rooms or toilets.

Mr. Goldford said Mr. Trump remains hugely popular with Iowa voters and may be touting his appointment as Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the ruling against Roe. Wade, 1973 legalization of abortion.

But many evangelicals are willing to consider alternatives, especially those voters who may have grown weary of Mr. Trump’s brash personality and legal woes.

Mr. DeSantis, who has built a national reputation for rejecting Covid mandates and an “awakened” liberal agenda on social issues, offers a tempting alternative for Iowa GOP voters. In early spring, he nearly equaled Mr. Trump in some Iowa polls and surpassed him in others, while smashing other Republican nominees’ slates.

The latest Iowa poll, released May 12 by American Greatness, showed Mr. Trump leading Mr. DeSantis by 18 percentage points, showing a much closer race than the poll average, which gives Mr. Trump an edge in 37 points.

When it comes to pro-abortion voters, Mr. DeSantis differs not only from Mr. Trump, but also from the other candidates who follow him, but could rob him of support among GOP voters in Iowa. Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley did not support a ban on abortion at any specific stage of pregnancy and called for a “national consensus” on the issue, while Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who entered the race on Monday, already came across the definition of its position on the prohibition of the procedure. Mr. Scott said he supports a 20-week federal abortion ban, but it’s not clear if he supports the stricter restrictions that many in the pro-life movement are pushing for.

Mr. DeSantis made two trips to Iowa, most recently last week tossing hamburgers and shaking hands with voters at a fundraiser picnic at a Sioux center in the conservative northwestern part of the state.

While in Iowa, Mr. DeSantis received dozens of endorsements from state Republicans.

“The Republican primaries are already a two-man race, and Governor DeSantis isn’t even a candidate,” said Erin Perrin, a spokeswoman for DeSantis’ pro-DeSantis PAC, Never Back Down. “As we saw during his recent visits to Iowa and New Hampshire, support for the governor is gaining momentum because he is the only Republican who not only speaks, but also fights hard fights, such as fighting corporations. The choice couldn’t be clearer for the primary voters. While Donald Trump may be talking about the big game, DeSantis is actually fighting and winning.”

Mr. Trump called Mr. DeSantis “completely unelected” on Monday when he greeted Mr. Scott in the race.

Mr. DeSantis attacked Mr. Trump on the issue of abortion at a bill signing ceremony last week, saying that almost everyone in the life movement supports a ban on abortion after six weeks, when fetal heartbeats are normally detected.

“We have no illusions that this will not be challenged.“ Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen told the New York Times in a recent interview. “I think this is the next frontier in First Amendment jurisprudence, which should probably come from the US Supreme Court. And I think that’s probably where it’s headed.”

Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, criticized the bill’s supporters for “lack of a workable plan to implement” what she called “an attempt to censor American voices.”

“We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana, whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are at risk due to this flagrant abuse of government authority,” Oberwetter told BuzzFeed News.

For years, U.S. politicians and lawmakers have scrutinized TikTok’s data sharing and privacy practices over concerns that its parent company, ByteDance, is controlled by the Chinese government. And last year, the social network confirmed an explosive report from BuzzFeed News that engineers in Beijing had access to US user data.

In a recent hearing, members of Congress questioned TikTok CEO Show Zi Chu about these issues as they consider legislation that would ban the platform and give the government the power to ban technology deemed a national security threat. The Biden administration also reportedly demanded that ByteDance sell TikTok and threatened a complete ban on the application if it does not meet the requirements. So far, the Chinese government has said it will oppose the forced sale.

Clarissa-Jan Lim contributed to this story.