(RALEIGH) -- The largest teacher's group in North Carolina has endorsed Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton for for governor.

North Carolina Association of Educators President Sheri Strickland said Dalton has made the defense of public education the centerpiece of his campaign and is fighting attempts by Republican legislators to damage the public schools.

Dalton went to the association's state headquarters in Raleigh to accept endorsement and went after the Republican leadership at the General Assembly for percieved state education cuts. He called Republicans approach to the budget "a wrong headed process."

"What bothers me is a $35-hundred dollar tax credit to somebody who is making over $800-thousand dollars a year while you are laying these people off, that is wrong, that is wrong and it hurts our children," said Dalton.

Wednesday's announcement by the NCAE isn't surprising. Leaders of the 60,000-member association say they can't remember failing to endorse a Democrat for governor.

The endorsement will mean grassroots support for the Dalton campaign as well as support from the National Education Association. In the 2008 campaign, the NEA produced about $2 million worth of support for the candidacy of Democrat Bev. Perdue.