In the ongoing fight over teacher pay in North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper decided to take his message directly to teachers' inboxes Thursday.
Cooper's senior education adviser, Geoff Coltrane, emailed a letter from the governor to all North Carolina traditional public school principals Thursday evening, asking them to share the letter with teachers and school staff.
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In the two-page letter, Cooper urged educators to "reach out to your legislators and ask them to negotiate with me around a better pay plan for teachers and non-certified school personnel."
A.P. Dillon, a reporter for the conservative North State Journal, shared the letter on Twitter Friday morning and questioned whether it was appropriate.
"Cooper's letter uses state email to promote his own position in the budget fight to a captive audience – is that just inappropriate or is it violating the law?" Dillon wrote. "State law prohibits the use of public resources for electioneering or political activity."
When reached by email Friday, a spokesman for Cooper defended the decision to email school staff about the ongoing pay dispute.
"After legislators adjourned without passing a budget, it’s important for educators to know that the governor is continuing to fight for meaningful pay raises and for legislators to hear directly from teachers in their communities," spokesman Ford Porter wrote. "This letter was emailed to principals with a request to pass it along to teachers and staff. Our office will continue to work to engage North Carolinians on the issues that impact them."
Cooper vetoed the budget lawmakers passed in June, complaining that the plan included a business tax cut, didn't raise teacher salaries enough and didn't include an expansion of the state Medicaid program. Lawmakers passed a series of so-called "mini budgets" to get funding to agencies and programs where there was agreement between lawmakers and the governor.
But Cooper vetoed one of the mini-budgets that included teacher raises, calling it "paltry."
"My momma taught me: 'Watch what a man does, and not necessarily what he says,'" Sen. Deanna Ballard, R-Watauga, who chairs the Senate committee that handles education funding, said in a statement. "Three times over the past three years, Republicans have sent teacher pay raises to the governor. Three times he vetoed them. Gov. Cooper speaks of respecting teachers, but blocking much needed raises doesn’t demonstrate much gratitude for their hard work."
North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson faced similar criticism a few months ago after some parents and educators said emails and fliers he sent out seemed more like campaign materials.