McCrory attacks corruption; Perdue criticizes vouchers

ATLANTIC BEACH (The Raleigh News & Observer) - Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said Saturday that he is running for governor to bring needed changes to state government.

But his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, criticized McCrory's support for vouchers for private schools, saying it would undermine efforts to improve public education in North Carolina.

"As governor I will not be distracted by experiments like vouchers and private school tuition," Perdue told several hundred lawyers at the N.C. Bar Association convention in the first debate of the governor's race. "Vouchers take money away from the public schools. I am not going to take my eye off the prize and allow vouchers to break the back of public schools."