NC Lawmaker Angry After Teacher Has Daughter Send Him Note About Budget Cuts

A state lawmaker in North Carolina is upset today after he received a hand-written letter from his 8-year-old daughter. That may sound odd at first, but that's not the whole story. The letter, you see, was part of a school writing project that had students write to local politicians about public education. And the young girl's note included a direct message: "Please put the buget [sic] higher dad."

"I was extremely disappointed, but I tried not to show that in front of my daughter," Republican Mike Stone told WRAL-TV. "I don't know that at any time we should use our third-grade students as lobbyists:"

“The truth of the matter is, they baited my daughter on what to write,” Stone told the Carolina Journal.

The letter contained a story about two TAs losing their job and the school not having money for field trips or science class. Stone's daughter even went as far as to say she and her classmates now might not learn their multiplication facts:

But Lee County superintendent Jeffrey Moss said the writing assignment at Tramway Elementary was appropriate.

“It was not budget-specific except to say that they support funding public education. That was the theme,” Moss told the Journal. According to him, the assignment was given prior to the budget being passed, which may in fact hurt the school's case considering the note encouraged Stone to raise the budget.

Moss was much more blunt to WRAL: "If you're not interested in receiving letters from people in your district, don't run for public office."