Politics and Process- Education
The first issue I want to discuss in an effort to educate voters on my beliefs is the one closest to my heart. Education. I’m going to focus on K-12 public education for now but hopefully I will have time for higher education in a later post.
My first concern for North Carolina schools is the recruitment of high-quality new teachers coupled with the retention of veteran teachers. Policies put forth by the state legislature over the last several years have dampened enthusiasm for choosing teaching as a profession and our children will suffer for it. To use a metaphor, students drink from wells they did not dig and these wells are running dry. Teacher programs at our state’s colleges report that the number of incoming students seeking a career in education are dwindling and the shortage is being felt now and will only become more painful. Add to that teachers leaving the classroom for the private sector plus retiring veterans and we have a crisis.
One recruitment tool is teacher pay and at the risk of sounding self-serving I believe it needs to increase. This isn’t so I can continue my lavish lifestyle but so young people and others considering a career change can afford to choose teaching. In real money teacher pay is lower than it was before the 2008 recession regardless of the chest-thumping by our current legislative leadership. Here is a dollar amount that may shock you; $21,261. That is the difference between the average yearly salary of a college-educated North Carolinian and the average yearly pay for a North Carolina teacher. It’s no wonder high school graduates are looking elsewhere.
My last point also deals with money and it is the abysmal per-pupil funding figures for North Carolina. Depending on which reports you read we are either in the bottom 5 or bottom 10 in the country. Pathetic. Any politician talking about a “broken system” who supports that paltry investment simply does not deserve your vote. Eventually, you get what you pay for and education isn’t just a line item in a budget. It is our future. More importantly, it is our children’s future.
One final word on education and that word is “Leandro”. That is the name given to a North Carolina Supreme Court case verdict from almost 25 years ago which said that our state government had failed to meet its constitutional obligation to provide a sound public education. That’s right, our government has been knowingly in violation of our constitution for over 20 years. Recently the court-ordered education group tasked with providing solutions and a path forward released their report and to no one’s surprise it said schools needed more money. A lot more money. My favorite response came from the education policy expert for the John Locke Foundation who said the price tag was too high and offered his own solution. His fix is to have the governor and state legislators sit down and discuss reasonable changes that can be made to improve public education. Given how well things have gone with our most recent budget that sounds like a great idea. They can all sit around and fiddle while Rome burns.
As far as the process piece goes for my run at the District 53 State House seat, I’ve held an organizational meeting where I was able to share my vision on state government. Now I’m in the process of locating some foot soldiers to start knocking on doors with me to get the required signatures to be on the November ballot. I’ve also downloaded the State Board of Elections campaign finance software which I will now need to understand so that I can start accepting contributions. I will fill y’all in as things change.
Alt Middle 