Progressives forfeiting education money in exchange for control

Federal investigators have launched a Title IX inquiry into Cabarrus County Schools after female students raised concerns about males accessing girls' bathrooms and locker rooms. Ashley and Joseph break down what the investigation could mean for North Carolina schools, why federal funding may be at stake, and how student voices brought national attention to the issue. They also break down North Carolina lawmakers' override of Governor Stein's veto of HB 87, allowing the state to opt into a new federal education tax credit scholarship program that expands school-choice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Politics for Happy People. I'm Ashley Vaughn, and I'm here with Joseph Backholm. And today we are going to update everybody on the bathroom situation that we have been following here in North Carolina. And we are also going to talk about a recent veto override that advances school choice in North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

A tax credit situation, which might even be more exciting than a bathroom situation, actually.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Which is more exciting? Bathrooms, bathroom policies or tax credits? Actually, both of them.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Very exciting, Joseph.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Both good developments, and that's what we're committed to doing here on Politics for Happy People. And make the benign and make the boring thrilling.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

It is, though. And we're going to help people understand why they should care about these things. Totally. And um why we need to advance good policy here in North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

That's exactly right. But before we get to that, I've got something else that you should definitely care about, Ashley.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Okay, what is it?

SPEAKER_02 1:04

This is very exciting. And file this also under the category maybe interesting, but not that deep, although it could be deep. Plans released for a $16 billion mile-long ship capable of carrying 80,000 people. Actually, I'll give you some more details here.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

They refer to this as the freedom ship that would be home to about 50,000 people with space for 10,000 tourists and 20,000 crew members. So that's your 80,000 total people. Envisioned as a permanently mobile city at sea designed for long-term residents rather than short-term travel. So for those of you who love cruise liners, here's your cruise line home. Although I know people kind of live on cruise. I've I've heard of people who retire to cruise ships because they've decided it's cheaper.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

In as the currently envisioned, but current but the current cruise liners are like they are rowboats compared to what is being described here a mile long, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Okay, I have I have so many questions. Are you ready for the floor? Let me finish the description. Okay, go.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

Let me finish the description, then ask all of your questions. The ship would be about eight times the size of the current largest ship in the world, which is the Royal Caribbean's icons of the sea. The plans include a 15,000-seat stadium, schools, colleges, shops, clubs, a water park, a music hall, museums, parks, and more. It would be run on nuclear power, it would be too large to dock, and would remain in international waters. Freedom Cruise International says it would go around the world every two to three years. You in or out, Ashley?

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Oh, I'm out. I'm out in the most hardcore way. No, no, thank you. Dystopian floating. What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_02 3:00

Dystopian. It's it's like permanent vacation. Everything is paid for. You, you know, your your life is contained. Why don't you like it?

SPEAKER_00 3:10

It sounds like a nightmare. It sounds like a nightmare.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Have you ever done like a normal cruise?

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Oh no. You won't find me there either.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

So you might be the wrong person to ask. If you're already like paranoid of just cruise ships and it's like, this is what I'm paranoid.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

I just prefer land. I I don't need to go out to sea. I just don't.

SPEAKER_04 3:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

I mean, I would if I had a compelling reason, but it doesn't sound fun. And kind of for the same reason. Like I don't want to be, I don't want to be trapped with a bunch of strangers, you know?

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Well, they wouldn't be strangers, Ashley. This is your floating town. They're your friends and your neighbors. Okay. You could do a church plant on on what's it called? The freedom ship. We need some evangelicals to meet 100%. It's just a mission field, and they can't get away from you. Right? They cannot get away from you.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Oh my gosh. How long until it goes in? So who's in like what's the who's in charge? What are the laws? Who who governs this little marine law is actually interesting. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Um, because that's his old that's that's a whole thing. Um I knew you would know about that. Well, the only reason I know about this actually is because when I was in law school, there was a guy who was about 20 years older than me, who became a really good friend, and he had he was a he he ran a fishing boat or a series of them in Alaska until he nearly died for the third time. And his wife said, You're done fishing in Alaska. And so he did, and then he actually had to go finish his undergrad at like 42 before he could go to law school, and he was gonna go do marine law because he had been in fishing his whole life, which is apropos of very little, except for the fact that it's relevant to this conversation because when you are in international waters, the laws that apply are the laws of the flag that you fly as of any ship. So you see them all running around, they have a flagpole, and there's some, whether it's Liberia or Cote d'Ivoire or the United States or Canada, whatever flag you're flying, that's the law that applies on the ship.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Okay, so that leads to my second question, which I already had in my mind, which is who is doing this? Who is what what company or or entity is is building this?

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Freedom Cruise International. Freedom. Freedom Cruise International. And they've called this the Freedom Ship. So I think the company is called Freedom Cruise International.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Okay, so where is it based? What flag are they gonna fly? Um it sounds, it kind of sounds like some Americans since it's called the Freedom Ship. It's a Florida corporation. Okay, yeah, so it's Americans. Okay, so the American flag is gonna fly? Is that the same? Yeah, so this would presumably I I do you have to?

SPEAKER_02 5:51

I I assume so. If it is a Florida corporation, obviously based in the United States, U.S. law would apply. So this would be a little America floating around a mile-long America, 50,000 people governed by the laws of America. How long until this goes Lord of the Flies, do you think it's what they didn't talk about was their judicial system on this little boat. And they're, you know, do you have a court system and law enforcement and cops?

SPEAKER_00 6:20

Exactly. It definitely sounds like a recipe for some really socially toxic situations at the very least, um, but also some really sticky, uh potentially criminal situation. Like what do you do when something comes up? Like you're stuck there.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

Or it could be utopia if everybody is kind and they just treat each other well, and you just sail.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

We know that.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

I could see it going well, but I could see it going very badly.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

I don't I don't know how you can see that going well, Joseph. That's like that's kind of against our our world view. We understand that this is a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

You don't have to, I mean, there's nothing there's nothing immoral about living in small com small floating communities.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

I mean, that that's how we I mean if everybody is It's too insular.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

It will never work. It's too insular.

SPEAKER_02 7:10

It will never work as like a social experiment, you mean?

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Yeah, yeah, socially. That's gonna be the biggest problem. It's socially toxic. Yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, that's the problem with this.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

I I mean I can't say I disagree with that. You know, the the the thing like this that I really have an emotional like negative reaction to is colonizing Mars. And I don't know, you know, Elon's all about sending people to Mars as soon as possible. And I can't for the life of me can't I would rather live on this ship in the ocean. Because of course you can leave. It's not you're not actually a prisoner there, right? Yeah, yeah. But 100% there are gonna be ways for people to get on and off.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Yeah, I just uh I feel like I would just feel trapped. I feel very crappy. I don't know if that's my ideal environment, but I don't entirely hate it.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

I mean there's Oh, I I hate it. Here the the other thing about me, I've never been on a cruise ship either, but because my wife will not go on a cruise ship because she's she's with me. She well, no, she's not with you in the same way, she's just prone to motion sickness. And so she does not want to take the risk of of having you know, seven, nine-day vacation or whatever that is, just spent nauseous. And I, as somebody who has been very nauseous on fishing vessels, I'm sympathetic to the cause to the uh to the concern, so I've never pushed the issue, so I've never been on a cruise. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

I don't know, but so you're just up for an adventure, that's why you like the idea.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

I mean, kinda I don't know. I mean, I like the I like the idea that you could get off, right? You you're moving and the you're always in a different place. And so the yeah, invariably you could just take some you you know, you're somewhere and then you just take a little couple day trips and go to Morocco and then jump back on your helicopter and go get back on your home, which is floating. That's why you like it, because you like to go on your little adventures. That's it. You jump off and you go to South America, South Africa, and you explore South Africa for a while, and then you go back to your your floating condo. So I mean, maybe I would hate it. But I there there's a there's a lot about this that I mean the way that community would operate and function when it is that insular and that small, and who gets attracted to that, and does that make them more likely to live well in community or less likely to live well in community? Because again, we're total depravity people. Everybody there is gonna be a sinner, which means there's gonna be all sorts of opportunities for conflict. How bad does it get? And who's the cop?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

Count me out.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Well, anyway, that's uh well, we will uh continue to track Freedom Ship and and let you know when there are spaces available and you can buy your second home there. So, um Title IX, back to uh not the ocean here in North Carolina, a new Title IX investigation into Cabaras County, Ashley. What's happening?

SPEAKER_00 10:01

That's right. So this is the U.S. Department of Education opening an investigation into uh Cabaras County, North Carolina, looking into complaints that were filed by students there, female students who have experienced their safety and their privacy being violated in the public schools there because males are being allowed to access the female restrooms and locker rooms.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

I think we have a summary of this. Why don't we let that play that? I think it's good background and then we can talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Let's give that a play. Eli, you got it? We good to go?

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Okay, hit it. Tonight we're hearing from students whose concerns helped bring national attention to Cabaras County schools. A federal investigation is underway now after complaints about transgender students accessing bathrooms and even locker rooms. The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has launched a Title IX investigation into the district examining whether school policies are impacting the privacy and safety of female students. Tradisha Woodard spoke with some of the voices behind this growing debate.

SPEAKER_04 11:15

I'm here on behalf of one of my bestest friends.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Speaking out of something I am afraid this is gonna happen to me.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

A nonprofit NC values giving Kabiras County students a platform. My name was posted all over the place. But for some, that comes at a cost. It's why I'm concealing the identity of a young girl who shared her story exclusively with WCNC Charlotte. She says it all started in the bathroom.

SPEAKER_04 11:43

I was washing my hands in the bush and the middle of the I see I see a book. I tried to keep my distance from the bathroom.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

Um I would hold my urine. Stories like hers now getting federal attention. The Department of Education has launched a Title IX investigation into Caberas County Schools, following complaints about transgender students' access to bathrooms and locker rooms.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Special thanks to WCNC Charlotte for covering that story, Ashley. And I think it's uh it's encouraging to see that this issue, which a lot of us might feel like is really old, continues to persist in a lot of places around the country. And uh to me, what's notable about that is the fact that you have a combination of an administration that is actually concerned about reality when it comes to biology and organizing ourselves. You mean the Trump administration. The Trump administration. Yes, the Trump administration. And they they were were uh they have been clear that Title IX exists to protect actual women, not men who think that they are women, and they intend to enforce the law that way. And then you have some really courageous young ladies in high school in Cabaras County who have had the courage to highlight the fact that their school district is not operating this way, and they are now partnering essentially, not functionally, not really partnering, but they have brought this attention to light, and and the Trump administration is doing something about it.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

That's right. And you know, you say that they're courageous, and they really are. And you you heard one student in that story saying that um, you know, she has been called names. She has received threats, um, she's received bullying bullying. We have talked to some of these girls that we're in touch with there in Cavares County, and and they really do face backlash for standing up for themselves, for their for their friends, for their fellow female students there. And um, and it should not be this way. These girls should not be put in this position to have to stand up and say, hey, this isn't right. I want to have my safety and privacy at school. They should not be left to fight for themselves. And it's really unfortunate that this is the situation that we're in because now they are facing backlash. Not only do they have to stand up for themselves, but they are facing backlash for doing it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Not only are they right in a moral sense, they are also right in a legal sense. And the reason that uh the Title IX investigation matters is because the Trump administration has said we are not going to give federal funds to school districts that will not uh comply with reality on these issues. And so the the incentive for school districts, including Gabaris County, is to have the money that they would get for education from the federal government. And and that really becomes at risk once this investigation is happening.

SPEAKER_00 14:55

It actually does really become a lot of people. That's real leverage. Yeah, well, it is. And we've seen the federal government do a similar thing in Loudoun County, Virginia. They have an open investigation there, I believe it's actually multiple, and they have said that they they've uh they've designated um Loudoun County as a high-risk entity and place them on a reimbursement status for all department funds, um, which uh is over $50 million. And so they're actually saying, hey, you're you're you're on notice. Um you are not, we we want taxpayer dollars to be spent in a consistent manner with federal law, and you are not doing so, and and your funds are at risk. And um, you know, the same thing could happen in North Carolina here. We could be put on this reimbursement status because the schools are not following federal law.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

And Loudoun County probably got priority attention from the federal government because that was kind of ground zero for this war between uh parents and the education bureaucracy.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

A long history there.

SPEAKER_02 16:10

There's a lot of history there of boys sadly actually sexually assaulting girls at school in the locker rooms, of the parents who complained being referred to by the past administration as domestic terrorists, and the parents being investigated by law enforcement rather than the schools themselves. So Loudon County is kind of ground zero for this conflict between parents and the and the education system. Um so they did get that attention. The uh f as you just highlighted there, the Trump administration has found them to be in violation, and now their money is at risk, and now that attention is being forced, is being focused, turned to perhaps uh Cabaras County. And uh they should be concerned, but those of us who care about truth, goodness, and beauty and the safety of young ladies should be very excited about that, and we hope that that uh that pressure will lead those who are resistant uh to biological reality to just come into alignment with and create a better system, uh a better environment for the young ladies in that school district. And so um it's not resolved yet, but it's a good development uh for for the students.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

It is a good development, and this was something that President Trump, you know, he released an executive order uh defining male and female by biology and reserving female private spaces for biological females only at the very beginning of his current administration, at the very beginning. And there is money coming from the federal government into these schools, and so they do have uh you know authority over them as well. And um, it's interesting how we've had multiple uh multiple of our our congressmen in this state, uh Representative McDowell and Representative uh Harris.

SPEAKER_02 18:01

And this is Mark is this actually Mark Harris's district in Cavaris County? I mean, I mean he's kind of in that neighborhood. I'm gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Well, that county is split by the two of them, Congressman McDowell and Harris. Yes. So they both have they've both been involved. They've both been involved, and and they're both they've both, you know, had many statements on their social media and and from their offices saying this is not okay.

unknown 18:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

And and really uh uh Representative McDowell wrote wrote a letter to the Department of Education saying, hey, you need to look into this, and that that is that is why this has happened. Right. Um, that is why this investigation is happening. Um and so yeah, I mean it's great to see our congressman standing up for these girls. And um, it's really unfortunate that the school board is not doing so.

unknown 18:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Well, and and about that, right? We know that uh polling on this issue is very much in our favor, whether it's 70, 30, 80, 20. Most Americans believe that boys and girls are different, you can't become the other, and that we need to organize ourselves that way. So politically, it's actually very helpful for uh those who get involved, whether it's Mark Harris or Addison McDowell or the Trump administration, uh, to take the position of the young ladies in this in this uh in these cases. But the reason there's a conflict at all is because the minority, the superminority on this issue, kind of the far-left activists, they are disproportionately represented in the education bureaucracy. And that's what we're encountering here is you have different school districts. And Cabaris County is uh by no means the only school district that struggles with this, but you have the activists, you have the true believers inside the education system who will defy as long as they can be holdouts on behalf of the uh of gender ideology, uh their understanding of gender ideology, I guess. Um and and so they will insist that no, we're gonna live in a world where you can be whatever you want, uh, even if it's against the law, even if it threatens our money, um, and if nobody enforces it, they really do have to be forced to comply because they are real believers. So the public generally thinks one thing, but the hardcore activists um are overrepresented in it in the education system, and that's why um Loudoun County, Kabarish County, you know, you're gonna see Mecklenburg County. I think we have some examples there as well, where this is it's not gonna go away immediately because the true believers are embedded in the school systems in a lot of these blue cities all over the country. So I expect this to not be the last Title IX investigation that's opened. But one other good story, kind of federal-local partnership that I want to cover in the remainder of our time here. Okay. Um, we've moved from bathroom policy, which is thrilling. Now we're gonna talk about thrilling tax credits. And it really is, though, and I say that tongue in cheek, but I think we should all be super excited about this. And and if you are uh tempted to tune out because I said the word, the term tax credits, do not, because this is really good for your family and every child that you know in America. Because, actually, the background here very quickly is the big beautiful bill that was passed by Congress last year contained, among many things, a provision that would allow taxpayers to deduct $1,700 per individual from the bottom line of your tax bill for contributions made to private education scholarships. And and this is not a it's not a tax deduction, it's a tax credit. So whatever your tax bill is, oh you owe the IRS $15,000 this year, you just subtract $1,700 if you make these contributions. And a there's there's layers to how this is going to be implemented, but let I mean tell me if I'm gonna be able to simplify this in a way that people understand. But scholarship Granting organizations are going to be established throughout the country, and they are going to be able to give money to homeschool situations, to private schools, including Christian schools, schools that you and I are connected with, that we have people we we love who work there, who go to school there. These are run by churches in many cases because the Trump administration is not discriminating based on uh your religious affiliation. And there's a string of Supreme Court cases that now say you that you cannot. So if you're a you if you're out there pounding your hand on the desk about separation of church and state, you've already lost that argument legally, right? You cannot discriminate on the basis of religion, which is why this is such a good opportunity for school choice. And so these school scholarship granting organizations will be funded by contributions from people like you and I. We will make contributions that is deductible from our tax bill, and then those funds can be used to give scholarships to any kind of school arrangement around the country. So this is essentially an incentive from the federal government for taxpayers to make school choice more available. Now, what's the local angle on this? When they pass this in the in the big beautiful bill, states have to opt in. And North Carolina has now opted in, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:15

We have, yes. Finally. Finally.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

It wasn't simple.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

It wasn't simple. We had to override the governor's veto of this bill, which was passed, was it last year? It was last year. Last year.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Why do you think he vetoed this?

SPEAKER_00 23:31

Well, because he's a Democrat and he has to be against anything even remotely close to school choice.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

And I you you say that so cynically. I expect expect better from you, Ashley. You're usually the nice one around here. But no, I agree, I agree. I agree entirely. I mean, that's the that's the sad thing about it, is somehow the left has been reflexively opposed to school choice.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah.

unknown 23:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

And I think that's because of it it threatens teachers.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

But the money is gonna go to all the other states that opt in.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

This money can even go to public schools, right? It's just making education funds gener uh generally available. And scholarship granting organizations can give this money to public schools if they want to.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

I'm not sure I realized that detail.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Okay. Yeah. I knew it could go to charter schools. So that's interesting. Yeah.

unknown 24:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

So it's just more money for education. More money for education you would all think is good.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

You pay less, you pay less taxes to the government, instead that money goes to schools.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

But let's understand why the left doesn't like school choice and and why they don't like scholarship programs like this. It's because when there is competition, when all schools, private schools, Christian schools, charter schools, public schools, compete on a level of playing field, when people don't have an economic reason to go to one school over all of the others, that threatens the employment security of the adults inside the government system. Now we love teachers. Most of them are trying to do really good things. They're not bad people in many cases. This is not anti-teachers. But the reality is the system has been set up in such a way that the priority is the security of the employment of the teachers rather than the quality of the education. And the reason why the left politically has been protective of that is because they make money from that arrangement politically. And they get the kickbacks from the teachers' unions to provide the security of that employment historically. That's how that's operated. So when when public schools see a reduction in enrollment because students find a school they like better, they just see that as jobs lost. And that is in a market world, that's real. If if one if one entity delivers a lower quality product than another entity, and the customers go to the entity that they like the product better, that means the the lower quality entity will employ fewer people, which is true. And to me, that's fine. If they're good teachers, they're gonna find they're gonna find employment teaching maybe someplace else. But the the system has long prioritized the employment, and that's really why they oppose school choice, because they see that as a threat to employees, even if it means better education for children.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Or just different. You know, I I think it makes sense that the same type of education isn't gonna be right for every single family.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

Um for sure, especially now.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

Yeah, exactly. When we are at a place where, you know, we do have really big differences uh between groups about uh basic questions. Um you know going back to the the transgender issue, that's a huge, that's a huge difference. Um that's you know, two very incompatible views on that. Um and and other topics like race and how do we look at American history and um all sorts of questions. And and it does, it just it it is it is right to give families more options than just this one size fits all um government education situation. And and the sad reality is in North Carolina, you know, we aren't performing, you know, the children aren't up to the standards that they should be. And people argue about why that is. Some people say the teachers aren't paid enough, and that's why. And some people say, you know, why would we pay them more when they're not doing a good job educating the children? You know, um, but the reality is just on a very basic level, um it I do believe, I absolutely do believe, it we should have policies that make it easier and affordable for families to choose the educational situation that works best for them.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

And that's part of what this bill that was passed in Congress does that North Carolina has now opted into over the objection of the governor, but that's kind of the way it operates around here these days, is the governor objects and the legislature says we want to do it anyway, and so we do. And that's been we're now kind of in the sixth year of that arrangement recently. So I think it's great news, but for those of us who are living in North Carolina, what we just need to know that it's this is not going to kick off until 2027. And so contributions made in the 2027 will then be deductible on your tax bill in 2028. And so it's a little ways from being implemented, but the reality is this is going to galvanize a lot of money to further make choice available to families who otherwise are prevented from choice for economic reasons. And for those of us who are all about the equality of economic opportunity, how could we object? Yet we do for the reasons we just discussed. But yes, choice is good, free markets are good in education and in hamburgers and taco stands and everything. We don't want good, we don't want bad taco stands because they're bad tacos, so they should go out of business. Just like we don't want bad schools because bad schools are bad schools.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

So we want people to know that they can take advantage of this tax deduction.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

So stay tuned.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

And we also want people to know that they can apply for these scholarships. That's two different things.

SPEAKER_02 29:24

Right. Even if you don't have kids, you can make school choice possible. But for those who might feel like, hey, you know, I don't have options because I can't afford options, that's becoming less of an excuse. I mean, of course, in North Carolina, already have the opportunity scholarship that that is available that the legislature passed three, four years ago, that is net that is now in effect, and lots and lots of families are taking advantage of. And this is just an additional way to make school choice possible. One other thought on this is because we've mentioned that you have to opt-in. The opt-in, non-opt-in states, right, are going to further harden the lines between life in blue states and red states, actually. I think that's one of the things that we're gonna realize here is as that divide, as that divide um, you know, continues to grow, the red states are gonna have ubiquitous, maybe even universal school choice. And in the blue states, you're gonna have one option, and it's gonna be the one down the street that the government superintends and manages, and the government worldview is going to prevail there. And if that's where you live, that's your choice. And uh increasingly, I think parents are gonna say, hey, actually, we like we want the choice, and for the sake of our children, we're gonna go to a place where we have it. I think that's gonna be one of the long-term effects of this, just across the country, because the blue states are not gonna opt into this.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

It's just crazy because that's less money for education in your state. Your state, the blue states are gonna have less money for education than the red states.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Yes, that's a lot of money, $1,700. There's education happening that we do not control. That's the fear in these.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

We don't want the money.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

They would rather have the control, correct. 100%. Okay, yeah. If they can control the system with less money, they will, rather than having a great system with more resources that they don't control. Control will win that, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Every time. They're for education.

SPEAKER_02 31:21

That's right. Okay, that's right. But their kind of education, they're not for your kind of education.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Let it be known, let the record show.

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

So that's great news. Um, in in the months we to come, we will for sure let people know as those scholarship granting or organizations are formed uh that can support great Christian education for your kids or children that you know and love, and how you can help make that possible. We'll do that.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

So this was a good week in North Carolina. Yeah. Is there two issues that NC Values has worked on historically? Um protecting women in private spaces.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

And Ashley, on on that point, I just want to give you a shout out as the uh as our communications director. I think that's your title, right? It is, yes. The fact that that the news knows about it and Addison McDowell knows about it, and Mark Harrison knows about it, and the Trump administration now knows about it, is because you went and got those stories and told the stories, and people became aware of it. And so, great work.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

They're compelling stories. We were the conduit, but it it really is it is the girls who were were brave. Will to team.

SPEAKER_02 32:31

They have to be willing to, and and you handed them the platform so that they could be heard, and and then we have good people in elected office who are responding to that. And so it's all teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work. So thank you, Ashley. Yeah, yeah, thank you. And thank you, friends, for joining us here on Politics for Happy People. Enjoyed having you with us for the conversation. Reminder that there are new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. So make sure you look for the next one. Like and subscribe wherever you have found this one. We'll see you next time on Politics for Happy People.