NC Democrat falsely claims her Republican opponent campaigned for 'largest ever' school funding cut

A campaign advertisement in support of a North Carolina Senate candidate claims that her Republican challenger has "campaigned to promote an extreme agenda" that includes elimination of science in schools, among other ideas.

Democratic state Sen. Lisa Grafstein authorized the mail ad against Republican Scott Lassiter, the principal of a public middle school and a former councilman in the town of Apex. They’re facing off in state Senate District 13, which covers most of southern Wake County.

The ad says Scott Lassiter has "allied himself with and repeatedly campaigned to promote an extreme agenda that includes: the largest-ever funding cut to North Carolina’s schools, sending public school funds to unaccountable private schools, and ending the teaching of science in public schools."

Lassiter has said he’s OK with using taxpayer dollars on private schools, so long as there’s accountability for the schools receiving the funds. He has also said he opposes an ongoing effort to expand the state’s voucher program. 

Grafstein also failed to prove that Lassiter wants to eliminate science classes from public schools or that he wants to make historically large cuts to North Carolina’s public schools. 

When asked about the claims by PolitiFact North Carolina, Grafstein argued that Lassiter signaled his support for those positions by aligning himself with Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, and Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee for education superintendent. The North Carolina Democratic Party didn’t respond to questions about the ad.

Lassiter hugged Robinson at a campaign event for Morrow in 2022, when she ran for a seat on the Wake County school board. But PolitiFact found no instance in which Lassiter publicly endorsed either candidate or their agendas. Lassiter said he hasn’t endorsed Morrow; and he has called on Robinson to withdraw from his gubernatorial race.

Asked by iVoter Guide if states should allow public funds to "follow the child" to any school they go to — public, private, or homeschool — Lassiter responded that agreed with that stance. 

"Dollars should follow the students," Lassiter wrote. "Tax credits, scholarships, and educational savings accounts can be used to support parents who choose private school options. Lessening the bureaucratic and administrative overhead and red-tape that our public schools must deal with would also give them a chance to truly compete without giving up on them. Accountability for all school models receiving public funds is essential."

iVoter Guide is affiliated with American Family Association Action, a nonprofit group focused on advancing conservative Christian public policy. 

Lassiter’s response is notable because the topic has been controversial in North Carolina.

Republican state lawmakers this year have massively expanded North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship program, which allows families to access public funds for private school tuition. Democratic critics say public money should only be spent on public schools, and have hammered the program’s Republican supporters on the campaign trail.

Public school funding is dependent on headcount. Opponents of vouchers worry that if too many students opt for private schools, then public schools will lose funding while still having to maintain similar operating costs. Further, if a private school student transferred to a public school mid-year, the public school wouldn’t be funded for the new student.

The Office of State Budget and Management estimated that the expansion of the voucher program could cost state schools up to $100 million in two years, but it’s a very rough estimate and likely too early to determine whether the expanded program would lead to the "largest-ever" school funding cut. To meet that qualification, the program would need to cost many hundreds of millions of dollars. The onset of the Great Recession led to significant cuts. Public schools lost $407.9 million from the 2008-09 school year to the 2009-10 school year, largely because of state and local cuts that weren’t offset even by a massive federal stimulus package.

Critics of the Opportunity Scholarship program also point out that, although voucher-receiving private schools are required to administer a nationally normed test, they aren’t held accountable for the results nor required to make them public.

Lassiter told the News & Observer that the Opportunity Scholarship program doesn’t feature enough safeguards. 

Asked whether he supported the legislature’s effort to expand the program’s funding by about $500 million, Lassiter said: "Not as it stands. I’m deeply concerned about the allocation of public funds without strict accountability and transparency. Furthermore, I’m troubled by the inclination of some to abandon our public schools in favor of privatization, where profit often takes precedence over quality education. Well-funded, well-managed public schools are the cornerstone of a self-governing society."

Lassiter, who has worked in education for 15 years, says on his campaign website: "The state has to do more to fund the recruitment and retention of the best talent to serve our students." He has singled out the GOP-led North Carolina General Assembly as the source that should boost funding.

We found no examples of Lassiter calling for historic school funding cuts or eliminating science education.

The mailer that made these claims included quotes to that effect. Cartoon-like text bubbles hover around prominent photos of Lassiter. But a close look at the mailer shows these quotes weren’t from Lassiter; they were from Robinson and Morrow.

They read: 

"We don’t want" public school funding. This is part of a statement Robinson made at a private event near Asheville on July 10, and the position that would amount to the largest ever cut to education funding, Grafstein said. The ad leaves out that Robinson was talking about federal funding — not the entire sum of public school funding, which also comes from state and county governments. Robinson was decrying federal regulations that accompany education funding provided by the federal government. 

"Science, science, screw science." The ad attributed this statement to a Sept. 6, 2020, Facebook post by Morrow. Neither Grafstein nor the North Carolina Democratic Party provided a link to this post. In his memoir, Robinson also downplayed the need to teach science in elementary school.  

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The theory of evolution is "demonic." The ad attributed this claim to a 2018 Robinson appearance on the Politics and Prophecy podcast, as reported by the American Journal News. The host, Chris Levels, asked Robinson about evolution. "Evolution, because when you think about it, none of this is possible without that theory," Levels said. "That whole philosophy, it’s so demonic in its origin. What do you have to say about that?" Robinson responded: "That’s absolutely true," the American Journal News reported.

Public school funding "needs to be slashed." Robinson told the Smoky Mountain News in April that some of the bloat in education funding can be cut and redirected to teachers: "I believe that we can cut our state school budget. I don’t think it needs to be grown … I think it needs to be slashed. But when I say slash, I don’t mean redirected from education, I mean redirected to education."

PolitiFact North Carolina asked Grafstein and the North Carolina Democratic Party for evidence that Lassiter had campaigned for Robinson’s agenda. 

Grafstein cited a Facebook video showing Lassiter hugging Robinson at a Morrow campaign event during her 2022 Wake County school board campaign. 

Grafstein also cited Lassiter’s participation in an April school safety panel that Morrow organized. Lassiter spoke at the event but told PolitiFact that he hasn’t endorsed her. 

Grafstein said Lassiter hasn’t denounced Morrow, despite some of her political positions and skepticism of the 2020 presidential election. Morrow has a history of divisive comments on social media, including calling for the public execution of former President Barack Obama. Morrow also marched in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, but says she didn’t enter the U.S. Capitol when deadly riots started. 

"I have seen no indication that he has denounced or distanced himself from any of her unhinged comments or activities, such as her participation in Jan. 6," she told PolitiFact in an email.

Lassiter called on Robinson to suspend his campaign following CNN’s report alleging that Robinson made racist and lewd comments on a pornographic website. Robinson has denied the allegations.

Lassiter told PolitiFact he has appeared at lots of campaign events with lots of people throughout his many years in public office. He said appearing with someone and shaking their hand doesn’t imply an endorsement, adding that he has met Grafstein and shaken her hand.

"I hope she doesn’t also interpret my cordiality as an endorsement of her campaign," he said.

The ad authorized by Grafstein said Lassiter "repeatedly campaigned to promote" North Carolina's "largest-ever" school funding cut, sending public school money to "unaccountable private schools" and ending science education.

Grafstein presented no evidence that Lassiter has called for historic funding cuts to North Carolina schools or called for abolishing science classes. Lassiter said he’s OK with the idea of spending taxpayer dollars on private schools — but he has repeatedly said the state needs to ensure accountability.

Grafstein attempts to tie Lassiter to positions held by Robinson and Morrow, citing their appearances together. However, she presented no evidence of Lassiter ever endorsing the positions attributed to Robinson and Morrow in the mailer.

We rate this claim False.