#NCSEN: The ad war & the $500 million lie

kaytomSo far, the 2014 US Senate race is looking and sounding a lot like one for governor or General Assembly.  We’re hearing a lot about education.  Kay Hagan and the Democrats are running some highly-dubious testimonial ads from teachers and parents talking about the alleged damage Tillis and the General Assembly have done to education.  Those ads — to those of us who pay attention — can easily be dismissed as bovine manure.  But for the low-information crowd, they are devastatingly effective. (One woman offering testimony on-camera as a parent was revealed to be the wife of a Democrat campaign operative.)

One claim that appears to be doing the most damage to Tillis is the claim of $500 million in education cuts.  It is SO patently false, yet the state Republican Party and the Tillis campaign are letting it slide.  I would have thought Tillis would have addressed it in his “math” ad, but he didn’t.   Why not bring DPI superintendent June Atkinson and the local school boards into the discussion? That is where the decisions about class size, textbook spending, and teacher assistant hiring are made. (Oh, wait. Thom and Gov. Pat had a press conference with Miss June a few months ago.) 

The documents I dug up from our educrats here in Moore County prove — in their own words — there are no education cuts.  Our educrats’ own words detailed “increased funding from the state.”  Their documents showed that — for the last five years — the system has been OVERFUNDED.  They’ve finished with a surplus.   That’s just one county out of 100. But I bet a bit of statewide research would produce more evidence like that.