Claims Department: Governor

SPONSOR

Beverly Perdue campaign

WHAT THE AD SAYS

AUDIO: Narrator: "There's a real difference between the candidates on the issue of school vouchers. Pat McCrory supports private school vouchers, taking 900 million taxpayer dollars away from public schools to pay for kids in private schools. McCrory would have to slash public education or raises taxes."

A clip from a McCrory ad is shown: "I'm Pat McCrory. The difference is leadership."

Narrator: "You call that leadership? Pat McCrory, wrong on vouchers, wrong for the middle class."

IMAGES: Perdue is shown reading to children, with the words "Endorsed by North Carolina teachers" below. The ad shows images of McCrory, a headline from the Charlotte Observer and schools.

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS

Vouchers are a traditional Democratic-Republican divide in North Carolina.

About 20 voucher programs are in use across 14 states around the country, according to Jeff Reed, director of the education task force at the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonpartisan association for conservative lawmakers.

This year a bipartisan group of North Carolina lawmakers pushed for a tax credit for special-needs students that would be worth as much as $6,000 per child each year. The bill died in committee.

McCrory has consistently supported vouchers, but recently he has also said he would limit them. During the Republican primary this year, he pitched vouchers as a way to increase competition among schools and offer parents more choices.

"The more competition we have, the more choice you have in education, the better our education is going to be for our kids," he told a Hendersonville crowd in March.

In a candidate questionnaire distributed by the N.C. Family Policy Council, McCrory answered "yes" to, "Should parents who choose to educate their children in private, religious or home schools receive a voucher or tax credit from the state?"

That $900 million figure is based on calculations that assume that every student home schooled or enrolled in private school in North Carolina would get a voucher.

Perdue has been endorsed by the N.C. Association of Educators in the primary and the general election this year.

IS THE AD ACCURATE?

Yes and no. McCrory has voiced support for vouchers, but the $900 million figure is misleading.