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A High Point Democrat found himself at the center of the highly charged debate over expanding the number of charter schools in North Carolina on Monday night.

Rep. Marcus Brandon  was the lone member of his party to back the measure, which the House passed 68-51.

The bill, which would remove limits on how many charter schools are allowed in the state, now returns to the Senate for final legislative approval before it is sent to Gov. Bev Perdue for her signature or veto.

Perdue has not said what action she would take on the measure, but Democrats have hinted she might reject it.

Democratic objections have focused on the funding that would shift away from traditional public schools to the publicly funded but privately run charter schools. Democrats have also complained that the bill would exempt charters from standards that ensure equal access to children from all socioeconomic classes.

Republicans have scoffed at these arguments, saying that Democrats are merely supporting the “educational establishment” and resisting efforts to give parents a choice in their education.

The highly partisan nature of the debate made Brandon’s stand on the bill even more visible.

“Many people wonder why a freshman Democrat would actually be the only one (Democrat) to support a charter school bill,” he said Monday night on the floor of the House.

“It has been a very hard road for me to travel ... but I had to be true to myself and true to my campaign promise that the representative from the 60th district will not allow you or anyone on either side to hold my kids hostages for your talking points.”

Brandon, who said he was a supporter of public schools as well as charters, told colleagues that statistics showed 41  percent of African American males do not graduate from high school and that schools in his district struggle to educate students.

“When you give me your talking points about charter schools that this is going to create segregation, I already have it,” Brandon said. “When you tell me that African American kids are not going to have access to a quality education, I already have it.”

Brandon said that expanding charter schools would give some children in his House district a better shot at education.

His stance drew fire from his own party. Fellow Democrats peppered him with questions on the House floor.

“Charter schools don’t have to take kids with attention deficit disorder or learning disabilities. Do you think it’s possible this bill would move us toward our traditional public schools (having) most of the special education students, most of the poor students, most of the minority students in them?” asked Rep. Verla Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat.

Brandon said the focus of education should be doing what’s right on behalf of an individual child.

During his 15 minutes in the spotlight, Brandon got help only from Rep. John Faircloth , a Republican and fellow High Point resident, who asked about educational meetings that Brandon had recently held in his district.

Wrapping up debate, House minority leader Joe Hackney, the top-ranking Democrat in the body, gave a finger-wagging redress to Brandon.

“Rep. Brandon, you wait and see what the dropout rate is when the cream of the crop is drained off into charter schools, and the rest of them are left there” in traditional public schools, Hackney said.

In many ways, Brandon’s arguments were the most impassioned for the  Republican-backed bill.

“This is not, for me, a Republican or Democrat issue. ... At the end of the day, I cannot kick this can down the road,” Brandon said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com