An ad by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue attacks Republican rival Pat McCrory over school vouchers.

What the ad says: Perdue is shown reading to children, with the words "Endorsed by North Carolina teachers" below. Perdue: "I'm Bev Perdue. I'm running for governor and I sponsored this ad." The ad then shows images of McCrory, a headline from the Charlotte Observer and schools. Narrator: "There's a real difference between the candidates on the issue of school vouchers. Pat McCrory supports private school vouchers, taking 900 million taxpayer dollars away from public schools to pay for kids in private schools. McCrory would have to slash public education or raises taxes." A clip from a McCrory ad is shown: "I'm Pat McCrory. The difference is leadership." Narrator: "You call that leadership? Pat McCrory, wrong on vouchers, wrong for the middle class."

The background: Vouchers are a traditional Democratic-Republican divide in North Carolina.

About 20 vouchers programs are in use across 14 states around the country, according to Jeff Reed, director of the education task force at the American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonpartisan association for conservative lawmakers.

Vouchers or programs where parents can take tax credits for private education are typically limited to disabled or disadvantaged students in failing schools, Reed said. No state has a universal voucher program.

This year a bipartisan group of N.C. lawmakers pushed for a tax credit for special-needs students that would be worth as much as $6,000 per child each year. The bill died in committee.

McCrory has consistently supported vouchers, but recently he has also said he would limit them. During the Republican primary this year, he pitched vouchers as a way to increase competition among schools and offer parents more choices.

"The more competition we have, the more choice you have in education, the better our education is going to be for our kids," he told a Hendersonville crowd in March. "And parents must have these choices, both with charter schools, school vouchers, and also more choice at the local school."

In a candidate questionnaire distributed by the N.C. Family Policy Council, McCrory answered "yes" to, "Should parents who choose to educate their children in private, religious, or home schools receive a voucher or tax credit from the state?

The $900 million figure is based on calculations that assume that every student home schooled or enrolled in private school in North Carolina would get a voucher. That would be a much more extensive program than is available in any other state.

Perdue has been endorsed by the N.C. Association of Educators in the primary and the general election this year.

Is it accurate? Yes and no. McCrory has voiced support for vouchers, but the $900 million figure is misleading.

— Lynn Bonner

Paging Bob Orr...

At a debate on WRAL Tuesday, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue suddenly channeled former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr.

In a discussion about vouchers, she said that the state constitution is "our most sacred state document."

Orr, a constitutional scholar and judge, often spoke highly of the state constitution during his debates.

Of course, he lost.

Coincidentally, Orr was later featured in a brief video clip showing him making oral arguments to overturn the state lottery in a court case.

Update: Orr e-mailed Dome to say that the timing was ironic, since Perdue presided over the Senate during the lottery vote, which he argues is unconstitutional.

"The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law will be happy to provide a free pocket size copy of the N.C. Constitution to the Lt. Governor — and any other candidate for public office," he wrote.

State Rep. Paul Stam says vouchers could help curb the dropout rate.

At a press conference Wednesday, the House minority leader pushed for a bill that would allow parents of special-education students to get tax credits to go to private schools.

Support for his position came with the release of a study by the Friedman Foundation, which claimed that vouchers could help. The study was commissioned by Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which also supports vouchers.

State Rep. Earline Parmon, a Winston-Salem Democrat who co-chairs a committee on dropout prevention, also attended the news conference.

But she told the N&O's Keung Hui that she wasn't ready to support the use of vouchers yet.