Teachers Short Changed…..Again

Over the next few days the North Carolina General Assembly will officially vote to pass the state budget, of which is almost three months late. The fiscal year ended on June 30 with no budget in place. 

This had a profound negative impact on North Carolinians. Government entities that depend on this budget like the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, the North Carolina Public School system, just to name a few, could not plan for future projects, hire new people, give raises, order needed items because money for the new fiscal year had not been released, because the budget had not been passed by our state legislature. 

What was the hold up?

Sidebar:  the Republicans control the state legislature with a supermajority. Note: Currently there are 50 members in the state senate; 30 R’s and 20 D’s. In the state house there are 120 members; 72 R’s and 48 D’s. 

With a supermajority, the Republicans can do whatever they want. Pass whatever bills they want with little to no input from the Democrats. In other words, they can ignore the basic democratic principles of a democracy known as debate and compromise & they are doing just that. 

As far as the budget, a budget was drafted by the Republican majority and no input or debate from the Democrats was allowed. Budget should have flown through both the House and the Senate.

However, the Republicans could not pass their own budget because of in-fighting. At first it was over tax breaks for the rich and corporations (like they need more money). Then it became apparent that the hold up was related to casinos. 

Yep, you heard that right. 

Casinos. 

Wait…WHY ARE CASINOS IN THE STATE BUDGET? 

Can’t that be tabled and put into its own legislation? Why yes it can! 

So why didn’t the Republicans do that? 

Because there is too much division within the Republican Party on this topic. With public pressure they reluctantly took casinos out of the budget so they could get enough support from their own party to pass their own budget.

Couldn’t the Democrats draft their own budget and peel off those Republicans who didn’t support the republican budget to support their budget and pass it? 

Yes, they could and why didn’t that happen? 

Because Republicans are petrified of going against the party out of fear of being primaried in their next election. Remember what they did to Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney? 

Our government is broken because compromise doesn’t exist anymore. Reaching across the aisle to do what’s best for the people is now political suicide. 

That ladies and gentleman, is not democracy. That is a precursor to authoritarianism. That topic is a whole other blog! 

Now back to the passage of the very late state budget. 

While I am pleased a budget has finally passed, almost three months late I remind you, I do have a lot of concerns. 

It’s far from a great budget and is deeply unpopular with educators. 

Here’s the issues that I, and most educators that I talk with, have with this budget. 

The North Carolina General Assembly is sitting on a multi-BILLION dollar stash of cash. If you’re wondering where the Leandro funds are, look no further!

 What’s Leandro? Leandro: What is it and why it matters. 

This budget fails to adequately fund public education again and once again teachers are short changed. This budget does give a small, and I do mean small, raise to teachers. The raises range from 2% to 7%, with the largest increases going to teachers in their early years and the smallest going to veteran teachers with 15 or more years of experience. 

The starting salary for a first year teacher is now $39,000 up from $37,000 and a veteran teacher with 25+ years of experience tops out at $55,100. (Note: This is the salary paid by the state and does not include supplements offered by local school districts which vary from district to district. This salary does not include the 12% increase for teachers that are Nationally Board Certified. North Carolina teachers are no longer paid for their masters, however some teachers were grandfathered in and this salary does not include masters pay for those that were grandfathered in). 

For veteran teachers this is a salary increase of about $110 per month before taxes. 

Paltry to say the least! 

Veteran teachers are important to a local school system. These are the teachers who help guide, train and support beginning teachers in their early years. Veteran teachers have the experience and knowledge to oversee and manage committees and school events, move into higher positions within the school district and/or state or be apart of advisory positions that help guild and draft policy.

Veteran teachers have cultivated relationships with the community and families that the school serves. It takes years to build these valuable and coveted relationships. 

Teachers in their beginning years have not mastered those skills yet and they need veteran teachers to help guide and mentor them. 

The mentoring that veteran teachers give to beginning teachers is invaluable. Without veteran teachers who will guide and mentor the next generation of teachers? 

According to Axios, North Carolina saw a 16% increase in teachers quitting between this school year and last year. This is one of the highest rates in the nation. 

The State of the Teaching Profession report showed that between March 2021 and March 2022 13.1% of beginning teachers (in their first five years) quit. That is the highest number since 2016 when 14.7% quit within their first five years of teaching. 

Over the last decade North Carolina colleges and universities have seen a significant decrease in enrollment in education programs. The UNC system has seen more than a 50% decline in enrollment in their education programs. 

We are not graduating enough teachers to even begin to offset the mass exodus of teachers leaving the profession. Henceforth, the massive teacher shortage we have right now in North Carolina and it’s only going to get worse. 

Over the next decade will North Carolina even have any career educators?

How does North Carolina rank in teacher pay nationally? 

The state of North Carolina is ranked 34th nationally for average teacher pay and 46th for beginning teacher pay. 

The average starting salary for a recent college graduate in North Carolina is $54,000. Beginning teacher salaries are $15,000 under what the average college graduate earns. 

To be a teacher you have to earn at least a bachelor’s degree and pass the required state exams for licensure. Shouldn’t teachers right out of college make at least the average starting salary a college graduate earns?

Even with Governor Coopers suggested 18% raise (which we knew was dead on arrival with the Republican controlled GA) beginning teacher salaries would only be a little over $43,000 per year. Still $11,000 less than what the average college graduate earns right out of college. 

In case you need a reminder of the devastating cuts the North Carolina Public School system has suffered since the right wing took over in 2010, here you go: For a detailed summary click here.  A Decade of Dismantling NC Public Education

Cliff Notes version:

• Gutted the Teaching Fellow Program to a skeleton of what it once was. (they tried to eliminate it originally).
• Added measures of standardized test results to teacher evaluations (EVASS).
• Launched an attack on the NCAE.
• Implemented the horribly flawed A-F school grading system.
• Implemented the “Opportunity Scholarship” program sending public tax dollars to private schools. 
• Reduced and in some cases eliminated the guardrails on governing charter schools.
• Eliminated tenure.
• Cut hundreds of millions of dollars in school funding while increasing funding for private school vouchers (public tax dollars going to private schools).
• Eliminated masters pay.
• Stripped away longevity pay from just teachers.
• Cut state retiree health benefits.
• Handed down to local LEAs an unfunded mandate on capping class sizes K-3 (offered no additional funding).
• Uncapped class sizes for grades 4-12 creating overcrowded classrooms. 
• Cut 7,000 teaching assistant positions.
• Cut funding for instructional materials.
• Cut funding for technology.
• Passed tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations at the expense of education funding. 
• Ignored court orders to release the $6+ billion in Leandro funding to North Carolina Public Schools.
• Touted “historic” raises that do not even keep up with inflation.

The only way to stop this outright war on public education is through voting. 

Vote for the person, not the party.

 I urge you to vote for those that support public education. Without it our communities will suffer.

North Carolina students deserve better.

North Carolina citizens deserve better. 

North Carolina deserves better.