Raleigh, NC – Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation on Friday that would have forced more school systems to open up to personal education, and set up a showdown with the Republican majority legislature in the coming days.
In his veto, Cooper said that students learn best in the classroom and noted that he has been pushing systems across the state to provide personalized instructions since prominent studies have been released stating it is safe to do so with masking and others measures.
But Cooper said Republican-backed Senate Law 37 fell short in two places: keeping him and other officials from closing schools again if the pandemic worsens, and allowing middle and high school students believed to be causing the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. , can transfer more easily. than younger students, back in classrooms “in violation of NC Department of Health and Human Services and CDC health guidelines.”
That second concern is up for debate as the bill includes language that requires social detachment and other security measures, as outlined by DHHS. But the governor’s office has said that language lower in the bill introduces enough vagueness that they fear some systems will open without all those measures.
The bill also requires ‘Plan A’ learning options, meaning five days a week in-person presence with minimal social distance for special education students, regardless of class level.
Cooper said he would have signed the bill if his concerns had been allayed, and he has spent the past few days looking to legislators for changes.
House Speaker Tim Moore said lawmakers were working to find an agreement with the governor, but now must stand up for students and families.
“With this veto, the governor ignored desperate parents, policy experts and students suffering from his refusal to return them to class,” Moore said in a statement.
State Inspector of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt criticized the veto, saying the bill allowed for safe return to class.
“This bill should have been a victory for students, parents and districts across the state. I am disappointed to see politics at play when we know where the science stands,” Truitt said in a tweet.
Cooper’s decision places a handful of Democrats who voted for the measure in the spotlight, most notably in the Senate, where a Republican attempt at bridging will give them the choice: remain consistent on the bill or support the governor and vote against high-profile legislation they once supported.
GOP lawmakers accused the governor of giving in to the law to the North Carolina Association of Educators, a teacher group that has repeatedly been an ally of Cooper and other Democrats.
“With teacher vaccinations in full swing, there is no legitimate excuse for Gov. Cooper and the far-left NCAE to oppose the wide reopening flexibility this bill gives to school districts,” said Senator Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga, co-chair of the Senate education committee in a statement. “The far left NCAE owns the governor’s mansion.”
The state opened vaccinations to teachers on Wednesday and added them to other categories already underway, including people 65 and older. It will take time for all teachers to be fully vaccinated, but top health officials have said schools can safely open before that is achieved.
NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a statement that the bill would have “needlessly endangered the health and safety of teachers and students.”
“The best action all lawmakers can take right now is to encourage their communities to adhere to safety protocols and to encourage the vaccination of all school staff,” said Walker Kelly.
Ballard, who sponsored Senate Bill 37, said he expected a veto attempt. Pro Tem Senate Chair Phil Berger said the attempt is likely to come soon.
Most systems already provide personalized instructions along the lines of what the bill requires. Durham Public Schools is a notable exception, and system leaders there decided this week to wait and see what Cooper did on the bill before finalizing a once-planned March 15 return to class.
Before the bill went into effect, Durham school leaders had decided to remain virtual for the rest of this school year.
Even if Cooper’s veto is overturned, his move has saved time for school systems and teachers worried about returning to class. He used all but one of 10 days that the state constitution allows him to decide on a bill, and even if Republican leaders lift as soon as possible and that lift is successful, the process will take much of the following week.
The bill requires systems to hold in-person classes on the first weekday that falls 15 days after the law goes into effect.
Under the North Carolina Constitution, three-fifths of the members in attendance who vote in each chamber are required to override the governor’s veto. How many votes that are depends on how many lawmakers are in the house when the vote is taken, but assuming full turnout, that’s 30 votes in the 50-member Senate.
Since the bill has begun in the Senate, the first attempt at suppression will come there, moving to the House only if it is successful in the Senate.
The Senate voted 31-16 to forward this bill to Cooper, involving three Democrats – Sens. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, Kirk deViere, D-Cumberland, and Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth – voted with the Republican majority. A fourth Democrat, Senator Ernestine Bazemore, D-Bertie, did not vote that day, but she had previously voted against the bill.
Republicans will have to convince at least two Democrats to go with them to lift Cooper’s veto. If they do, it will be the first time it has been destroyed since December 2018.
But Lowe said in a brief phone call Friday night that he will back the governor, leaving Republicans a tight thread. Clark said it would be “wise” for the Republicans to make adjustments to the bill the governor had called for.
DeViere did not immediately return a message asking for comment.
The bill passed House 77-42, a more comfortable margin in a room of 120 members, where 72 votes are needed to override the governor, assuming perfect turnout. Eight House Democrats sided with their Republican counterparts on the bill, with a ninth absent from the final vote.
That math only becomes important if there is a successful reconsideration in the Senate.