At McCrory Elementary, early childhood education comes at a premium and slams the door on the vast majority of lower and middle class children.

"Fee-based education shuts children out of the classroom during a recession," said North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Director Jay Parmley. "Families prioritize, and many people will make the very simple decision to feed their children instead of sending them to an expensive school."

A simple penny would have would have prevented the McCrory, Tillis & Berger team cuts to pre-K programs like More at Four, and would have protected teacher and teaching assistant positions in the classroom. Following Judge Manning’s ruling, Governor Perdue recently issued an executive order directing DHHS to “preserve the high standards, quality and accessibility” of More at Four for all at-risk children.

It appears that Republicans may file an appeal to overturn Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning’s ruling defending the constitutional right to free education; the current Republican leadership apparently believes in charging North Carolina families premium fees to send their children to public schools.

“North Carolinians of all ages know that charging working families for public education is just plain wrong,” Parmley continued. “McCrory backs vouchers for private schools and he supported the massive GOP School cuts. It's very clear that their goal is a tiered, tuition based public school system that will leave the majority of our people undereducated."