Democratic congressional candidate Dan McCready (N.C.) on Sunday accused his Republican opponent Dan Bishop of not believing in public schools, despite sending his children to a private school that costs $18,000 a year.
McCready, who will be facing state Sen. Bishop in a September 10th special election for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, participated in the Fayetteville NAACP candidate forum, where he claimed Bishop's policies hurt public school teachers.
"Someone told me in Fairmont, which is a small town in Robeson County—a substitute teacher for 14 years. When she started she made $14 an hour," McCready said. "Guess what she makes right now? 14 years later. Ten. 14 years later—She started at $14 an hour. She's making $10."
"This is what these politicians like state Sen. Bishop do," McCready added. "They don't believe in public schools. They do anything they can to conduct a war on schools."
McCready later repeated his charge about Bishop, saying, "I really believe that some of these politicians don’t actually believe in public schools."
McCready's attack line on Bishop could be considered hypocritical, considering he has enrolled some of his kids, ages 2 to 8, into a private school in Charlotte, according to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The school, Trinity Episcopal, posted on its Facebook page in April that "Trinity dad & Candidate for US Congress" McCready had stopped by to speak with its second-grade class about the democratic process.
McCready was also a member of the school’s board prior to announcing his first run for congress in 2017. His LinkedIn profile states he was a member of the Friends of Trinity Board in November 2016. McCready’s bio on his company’s website also states he serves on the school’s board.
The McCready campaign confirmed in a statement to the DCNF that McReady’s children were enrolled in the private school.
"As a product of North Carolina public schools, Dan McCready believes in public education and ending the attacks on our public schools by people like State Senator Dan Bishop and [Education Secretary] Betsy DeVos," said McCready's spokesman Matthew Fried. "He and his wife chose to send their kids to a small Christian school to receive a faith-based education, and they find it shameful that politician Dan Bishop is attacking their kids."
The 9th Congressional District is currently vacant after supporters of Republican candidate Mark Harris committed election fraud, resulting in the state election board not certifying the results of the 2018 election. Harris decided not to run in the Republican primary. Bishop defeated five candidates in the Republican primary and McCready ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.
"The most recently released poll in this race, conducted in mid-July, came from McCready’s campaign," according to RollCall. "It showed the race tied, with each candidate at 46 percent."