Yesterday both Jen Mangrum and Catherine Truitt provided insights to the editorial board of the News & Observer during an interview for each.

Below are two tweets from the education reporter for the N&O.

She threw Mark Johnson under the bus. Said he was not the person for the job.

She also was the person who stood on stage with Phil Berger last week to call for reopening schools fully. Phil Berger made sure that Mark Johnson was the most powerful state superintendent ever in NC’s history.

Catherine Truitt is aligning herself with Phil Berger. Either she needs to call Johnson a political puppet and the position he fulfilled one that was for Berger to exploit or…

Catherine Truitt needs to show how she would not be controlled by Berger.

And then she can comment on this:

She said nothing about Johnson’s capabilities back then. In fact, she was going to stay out of his way if he was to seek re-election.

Seems a little contradictory.

In that same EdNC.org report this was said by Truitt:

Truitt said that her work in classrooms, on education policy, at the UNC System, and now at WGU have given her experiences that would translate well to the role of state superintendent. 

“I think that these experiences and institutional knowledge, along with my relationships at the legislature and with the State Board, position me uniquely,” she said. 

But a couple of weeks ago she said,

Interesting.