(Headline USA) A Democrat state representative from Georgia broke with her party this month, slamming them as “hypocrites” for refusing to back legislation that would expand school choice to the state’s families.
State Rep. Mesha Mainor, the only Democrat to vote for a bill that would have created $6,500 vouchers for students in poor-performing public school districts, represents a deep-blue district stretching from southwest Atlanta into Midtown. She argued the bill would have primarily benefited her constituents, many of whom are stuck in poor-performing school districts but can’t afford to send their children to better private schools.
“I support parent choice because some parents have children in schools where their needs are not being met,” she told Fox News. “In my district in particular, we have schools with 3% reading proficiency, 3% have obtained math proficiency by the eighth grade. And so to say that this is just how it is and that the kid needs to just suffer these consequences, I don’t agree with that. And I don’t think that all parents agree with that either.”
Mainor said she’s urged her Democrat colleagues to back the bill, but they ultimately refused.
“Why is no one fighting for young black minds? Why isn’t that one of the things that we’re fighting for?” she said. “I actually say you’re a hypocrite. That’s what I tell them directly. You are being a hypocrite. There are state lawmakers right now where their children are in schools that they’re not even zoned for… They’re lying about their address, state lawmakers, but they won’t vote for this bill.”
Georgia Democrats responded to Mainor’s challenge by trying to oust her from the state legislature. Fellow state Rep. Josh McLaurin offered $1,000 to anyone who would primary her.
Mainor blasted the retaliation against her as “ludicrous.”
“I can only assume it’s because poor black children are not their priority,” she said. “Let’s put it like that. Until the Democratic Party wants to put poor black children as a priority, then state Rep. Mesha Mainor will continue to vote against them when it comes to these educational needs.”
