tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post5863733505162353346..comments2024-03-18T13:27:42.621-04:00Comments on CURMUDGUCATION: NC: Vindictive GOP Cuts Education Just BecausePeter Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16511193640285760299noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6534665086749553287.post-30908612878841618662017-05-27T21:24:13.354-04:002017-05-27T21:24:13.354-04:00The problem here in NC is that the GOP super-major...The problem here in NC is that the GOP super-majority in the legislature is totally unaccountable. They managed to ride the 2010 anti-incumbent wave into a majority in both houses and then proceeded to implement the most radical partisan gerrymander in the entire nation (it even makes PA look positively equitable by comparison.) The vast majority of GOP legislators have no fear whatsoever of being turned out in an election and feel free to do whatever their hard-right constituents want since we have closed primaries and they only need to worry about other Republicans due to the gerrymander. There are plenty of Democratic areas in NC (though concentrated in the larger cities and towns) and overall the state is fairly evenly split between parties, as shown by statewide elections where Dems still have a good chance. But an election that saw a Democratic governor oust a first-term GOP governor (the first time a sitting governor hasn't been re-elected in the last 166 years in NC) also saw the re-election of a legislative super-majority in both houses for the GOP. There's simply no way until their gerrymander is fully overturned for anyone to make these yahoos pay for the laws they pass, no matter how bad (i.e., HB2, which was certainly a factor in sending McCrory packing.) As a teacher in a very Dem and very well-off area, I'm somewhat insulated from the effects of what the legislature has done, but even we will feel the pinch. What it's going to do to the poorer city school systems (Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham) is going to be devastating. But they still won't pay the price for what they've done, no matter how many voters beyond their core supporters want to make them.Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00486178352273140164noreply@blogger.com