Michele Morrow criticized a local school board during a recent public meeting, arguing that too much time is being spent on affirmations and ideological disputes while basic academic performance and student preparation are being neglected.

Morrow said she has attended meetings for five years and initially planned to address specific changes involving policy 3210 before deciding to focus instead on what she described as a larger problem with the board’s priorities.

“Hello, everyone. I've been coming here for 5 years now, and I was going to talk to you about some practical things that I thought you could change about 3210, but I've changed my mind,” Morrow said.

She said she had become frustrated with the amount of meeting time devoted to praise and positive messaging about schools.

“I've been really confused over the last 5 years as to why we spend 45 minutes to an hour of every public meeting talking about how great everyone is and how great everything is in the schools, and now I've figured it out,” Morrow said.

“I've figured it out because all these people came here to defend you all from hurtful words. This is obnoxious.”

Morrow argued that schools should concentrate primarily on preparing students to become productive adults through strong academics and practical education.

“Let me just say, there is one goal for the educational system: It should be to prepare children to enter careers to be productive members of society,” Morrow said.

“It is not a counseling session. It is not a self-help area. It is not somewhere to find yourself, and we should not be led by the children, for goodness sake.”

She said adults should remain responsible for setting educational priorities and guiding children.

“The children are called dependents for a reason. They depend on us, who have fully-developed brains. You cannot feel your way through life,” Morrow said.

Morrow said parents and community members raising concerns at school board meetings are bringing forward issues involving academics, funding, transportation and student success.

“The issues that we are talking about—we're bringing you statistics, we are talking about scholastics, we are talking about funding, we are talking about bussing, we are talking about trying to figure out how to make our children be as successful as possible, and I am sure that that is your goal,” she said.

She also pushed back against criticism directed at speakers during the meeting, saying adults were engaging in a policy debate rather than directing personal attacks at children.

“And what we have been called tonight is what they're claiming that we're saying to children. We're having an adult conversation. There are not children in this room. We aren't going into the schools and calling them names,” Morrow said.

“They call us Marxists and hateful and bigots and everything else under the sun.”

Morrow then turned to cultural and religious concerns, arguing that the views of religious families should also receive protection within public schools.

“Well, let me tell you, less than 5% of the entire population of North Carolina identifies as LGBTQ. You guys all claim you want democracy. Well, you know what democracy is? It's the majority plus one. It's 50 plus one,” Morrow said.

She continued by invoking the beliefs of North Carolinians who identify with traditional religious teachings.

“You know what? More than 50% of the people in this state claim that they believe in God, Almighty God, who made us male and female, God who made marriage between a man and a woman, God who said that we must protect our children,” Morrow said.

Morrow also challenged the board’s emphasis on positive graduation stories while pointing to test performance.

“The fact that we can stand up here and we know we can brag about all of the wonderful graduations, but we know we know the statistics: 50% of children did not pass their end-of-grade test. What are we celebrating?” she said.

She linked academic concerns with what she described as a growing mental health problem among students.

“We have We have children coming up here telling us how horrible the mental health crisis is. Why? Most of us went to public school, and all of our all of our peers are not in mental health crises,” Morrow said.

“We have to ask ourselves, what are we doing to our children?”

Morrow argued that schools are exposing students to issues they are not prepared to process.

“I'm going to say, we are discussing things with them that they are not emotionally, intellectually, and morally able to handle,” she said.

“That is what is causing the anxiety, that is what is causing the depression, that is what is causing the confusion.”

She closed by calling for schools to protect childhood innocence while focusing on literacy, writing and independent thought.

“We need our children to be able to be children, to be able to be innocent, to be able to enjoy childhood, and not know all of the drama and all of the difficulties in adult life,” Morrow said.

“That is what we want. We want our children to be able to read and write and to think for themselves, and we demand that the children who fear God are protected in your schools.”

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