Raleigh, NC – Governor Roy Cooper vetoed the legislation on Friday that would have forced the opening of more school systems for face-to-face classes, creating a confrontation in the coming days with the Republican majority of the legislature.
In his veto message, Cooper said that students learn better in the classroom and noted that he urged systems across the state to offer face-to-face classes since major studies were published saying it is safe to do so with masking and other measures in force.
But Cooper said the Senate bill 37, supported by Republicans, fell short in two places: preventing him and other officials from closing schools again if the pandemic worsens and allowing elementary and high school students to supposedly transmit the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 more readily than younger students, back in class “in violation of the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC’s health guidelines”.
This second concern is under debate, because the project has a language that requires social distance and other security measures, as established by DHHS. But the Governor’s Office said that the language further down in the bill introduces sufficient vagueness that they fear that some systems will be opened without all these measures in place.
The project also requires learning options for “Plan A”, which means five days a week of face-to-face service with minimal social distance, for special education students, regardless of the grade.
Cooper said he would have signed the bill if his concerns were addressed, and he reached out to legislative leaders in recent days looking for change.
House Speaker Tim Moore said lawmakers worked to find common ground with the governor, but now they must defend students and their families.
“With this veto, the governor ignored desperate parents, policy experts and students who are suffering from his refusal to let them go back to the classroom,” Moore said in a statement.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt criticized the veto, saying the project allowed a safe return to classrooms.
“This project should have been a victory for students, parents and districts across the state. I am disappointed to see politics at stake when we know where the science is,” said Truitt in a tweet.
Cooper’s decision puts a handful of Democrats who voted in favor of the measure in the limelight, particularly in the state Senate, where an attempt at Republican overturning will leave them with a choice: to remain consistent with the bill or support the governor and vote against legislation high profile they once supported.
Republican Party lawmakers have accused the governor of favoring the bill for the North Carolina Educators’ Association, a group of teachers who have repeatedly allied with Cooper and other Democrats.
“With the vaccination of teachers in full swing, there is no legitimate excuse for Governor Cooper and the extreme left of the NCAE to oppose the wide reopening flexibility that this project grants to school districts,” Sen. Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga, co-chair of the Senate Education Committee, said in a statement. “The extreme left of the NCAE owns the governor’s mansion.”
The state opened vaccinations for teachers on Wednesday, adding them to other categories already underway, including people aged 65 and over. It will take some time for all teachers to be fully vaccinated, but leading health officials said schools can safely open before this is completed.
NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a statement that the bill “would unnecessarily endanger the health and safety of educators and students”.
“The best action that all lawmakers can take now is to encourage their communities to comply with safety protocols and to encourage vaccinations for all school staff,” said Walker Kelly.
Ballard, who sponsored Senate Bill 37, said he expected an attempt to override the veto. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s office said the attempt is likely to take place soon.
Most systems already offer face-to-face instructions according to what the invoice requires. The Durham Public Schools is a notable exception, and system leaders this week decided to wait and see what Cooper did on the bill before finalizing a planned return to the classroom on March 15.
Before the project went into effect, Durham school leaders decided to remain virtual for the rest of the school year.
Even if Cooper’s veto is overturned, his move has bought time for school systems and teachers worried about returning to school. He used all but one of the 10 days the state constitution gives him to decide on a bill, and even if Republican leaders make a decision as soon as possible and that annulment is successful, the process will take a large part next week.
The bill requires systems to offer face-to-face classes on the first day of the week 15 days after the project comes into effect.
Under the North Carolina constitution, three-fifths of the members present and voting in each chamber are required to override the governor’s veto. The number of votes depends on how many legislators are in the chamber when the vote is called, but assuming full presence, there are 30 votes in the 50-member Senate.
As the project started in the Senate, this is where the first attempt at annulment will come, only going to the House if it succeeds in the Senate.
The Senate voted 31-16 to send this bill to Cooper, with three Democrats – Sens. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, Kirk deViere, D-Cumberland and Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth – voting with the Republican majority. A fourth Democrat, Sen. Ernestine Bazemore, D-Bertie, did not vote that day, but she had previously voted against the bill.
Republicans will need to convince at least two Democrats to join them to overturn Cooper’s veto. If they do, it will be the first time he has been brought down since December 2018.
But Lowe said in a brief telephone conversation on Friday night that he will support the governor, leaving Republicans with a tight needle to thread. Clark said it “would be prudent” for Republicans to make adjustments to the bill requested by the governor.
DeViere did not immediately return a message asking for comments.
The bill passed the House on 77-42, a more comfortable margin in a 120-member chamber, where 72 votes are needed to annul the governor, assuming perfect attendance. Eight House Democrats supported their Republican colleagues on the bill, with a ninth absent during the final vote.
This math becomes important only if there is a successful replacement in the Senate.