Gov. Roy Cooper Spreading #FakeNews On School Supplies Funding

RALEIGH – As the Republicans huddle together in committee and on the chamber floors to pass a budget bill that adds nearly $1 billion (!) in spending over last year, Democrats are in full hyperventilation-mode over, well, just about anything the can cherry pick out to score political points.

The choice to close the bill to amendments was likely a prudent one, but it doesn’t necessarily cut off the political grandstanding by Democrats due to the simple fact that the majority of news media across the state are all too happy to give them a soapbox and a bullhorn, nevertheless.

For his part, Gov. Roy Cooper is taking a page out of the Trump playbook by going to Twitter to push misleading information on education funding.

Exhibit A:

This isn’t right. All of our schools could use help with school supplies. #BackroomBudget pic.twitter.com/LLnubmYckQ

— Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) May 30, 2018

Is that true? Is one school district getting nearly all the taxpayer’s money designated for school supplies? Well, no, it’s not.

In reality, more than $47 million is being spent on school supplies and equipment on a per-student basis.

What Cooper is referring to is a provision that would allocate $200,000 to school supplies for the Charlotte/Mecklenburg area, sponsored by a Republican Sen. Jeff Tarte (R-Mecklenburg).

Curiously, the non-profit the funds would go to, Donors Choose, has rebuffed the appropriation, saying it cannot accept the funds because it is “unequal” relative to other schools. To be sure, this organization counts Stephen Colbert among its biggest fans.

This is perfect fodder for the Democrats to shoot out of their political cannons, apparently.

Just a couple weeks ago Democrats joined arms with thousands of teachers in Raleigh to demand more funding for schools and teacher pay, and today they are ATTACKING a Republican senator that was attempting to do just that.

Worse, the governor is peddling knowingly misleading information to smear Republicans in front of 2018 elections. Surprising? No, unfortunately.