Watchdog group’s ad compares Cooper to segregationist George Wallace | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is David Bass.

    A new ad from a national watchdog group compares North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to former Alabama Democrat governor George Wallace, a prominent segregationist.

    The thesis of the ad is that Cooper's opposition to school choice in the Tar Heel State is blocking opportunities for minority students to have a better shot at success in life. The ad also calls out President Joe Biden, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten.

    "In 1963, Alabama Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door to keep black children out of the best schools. In 2023, a new generation of George Wallace Democrats is again blocking schoolhouse doors, opposing popular school choice programs," the ad says.

    "In states like New York, Arizona, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas, Democrats are fighting programs that give black and Hispanic parents the ability to send their kids to the best possible schools. Yet many of these same politicians send their own kids to private schools. It's time for every child in America to finally have equal access to good schools."

    The was created by the group Unleash Prosperity Now.

    Cooper has declared a statewide emergency over funding for traditional public schools, while continuing to target school choice programs - chiefly the Opportunity Scholarship Program - that are popular with voters. The governor has also vetoed two bills that would expand and strengthen charter schools.

    A recent poll shows that support for school choice stands at 71% among registered voters, including 73% among blacks and 71% among Hispanics.