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Raleigh, North Carolina –Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation that would have forced more school systems to open up to in-person education on Friday, staging a showdown in the coming days with the Republican majority in the legislature.
In his veto message, Cooper said students learn best in the classroom and noted that he has urged state systems to offer in-person instruction since the publication of leading studies claiming that ‘it was safe to do so with masking and other measures in place.
But Cooper said the Republican-backed Senate Bill 37 failed in two places: preventing him and other officials from closing schools again if the pandemic worsens and allowing college and high school students more easily transmit the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 than younger students, back in classrooms “in violation of North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services guidelines and CDCs ”.
This second concern is up for debate, as the bill contains language requiring social distancing and other safety measures as defined by the DHHS. But the governor’s office said the lower wording of the bill introduces enough vagueness that they fear some systems will open up without all of these measures in place.
The bill also requires “Plan A” learning options, which means in-person presence five days a week with minimal social distance, for exceptional students, regardless of their grade level.
Cooper said he would have signed the bill had his concerns been addressed, and he has reached out to legislative leaders in recent days to request changes.
House Speaker Tim Moore said lawmakers had worked to find common ground with the governor but now needed to stand up for students and families.
“With this veto, the governor has ignored desperate parents, political experts and students suffering from his refusal to let them return to class,” Moore said in a statement.
State Superintendent of Public Education, Catherine Truitt, criticized the veto, saying the bill allows for safe return to classrooms.
“This bill should have been a victory for students, parents and districts across the state. I am disappointed to see politics at stake as we know where the science stands,” Truitt said in a tweet. .
Cooper’s decision puts a handful of Democrats who voted for the measure in the spotlight, especially in the State Senate, where an attempted Republican waiver will give them a choice: stay consistent on the bill or support the governor. and vote against high profile legislation they once supported.
GOP lawmakers accused the governor of bending to the bill at the North Carolina Association of Educators, a group of teachers repeatedly allied with Cooper and other Democrats.
“With teacher immunizations on the rise, there is no legitimate excuse for Governor Cooper and the far left NCAE to oppose the wide reopening flexibility this bill grants school districts,” he said. said Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga, co-chair of the Senate education committee, said in a statement. “The far-left NCAE owns the governor’s mansion.”
The state opened vaccinations for teachers on Wednesday, adding them to other categories already underway, including those aged 65 and older. It will be some time before all teachers are fully immunized, but senior health officials have said schools can safely open before that is accomplished.
NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a statement that the bill “would needlessly endanger 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 vaccination of all school employees,” said Walker Kelly.
Ballard, who sponsored Senate Bill 37, said he expected an attempt to override the veto. The office of Senate Speaker Pro Tem Phil Berger said the attempt would likely come soon.
Most systems already offer in-person instructions for what the bill requires. Durham Public Schools are a notable exception, and system leaders this week decided to wait and see what Cooper does on the bill before finalizing a scheduled return to class on March 15.
Before the bill came into play, principals in Durham had decided to remain virtual for the remainder of this school year.
Even if Cooper’s veto is overturned, his decision saved school systems and worried teachers time to return to the classroom. He used every 10 days the state constitution gives him to vote on any bill except one, and even though the Republican leaders act as quickly as possible on a waiver and that waiver succeeds, the process will take much of next week.
The bill requires systems to conduct face-to-face classes on the first day of the week which occurs 15 days after the bill comes into force.
Under the North Carolina constitution, it takes three-fifths of the members present and voting in each chamber to override the governor’s veto. The number of votes depends on the number of lawmakers present in the chamber when the vote is called, but assuming full turnout, this represents 30 votes in the Senate, which is made up of 50 members.
Because the bill started in the Senate, this is where the first attempt at a waiver will come, only going through the House if it is successful in the Senate.
The Senate voted 31-16 to send this bill to Cooper, with three Democrats – the senses. Ben Clark, D-Hoke, Kirk deViere, D-Cumberland and Paul Lowe, D-Forsyth – voting with the Republican majority. A fourth Democrat, Senator Ernestine Bazemore, D-Bertie, did not vote that day, but she had already voted against the bill.
Republicans will have to convince at least two Democrats to go with them to overturn Cooper’s veto. If they do, it will be the first time he’s been toppled since December 2018.
But Lowe said in a brief phone conversation on Friday night that he would back the governor, leaving Republicans with a tight needle to thread. Clark said it “would be prudent” for Republicans to make any adjustments to the bill the governor requested.
DeViere did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
The bill passed in House 77-42, a more comfortable margin in a 120-member chamber, where it takes 72 votes to prevail over the governor, assuming perfect attendance. Eight House Democrats sided with their fellow Republicans on the bill, with a ninth missing in the final vote.
This calculation only becomes important if there is a successful derogation in the Senate.
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