The number one enemy of the public school system in North Carolina is Phil Berger, president of the North Carolina Senate.  Close behind at number two is Thom Tillis, Speaker of the NC House.  They and the other Republican leaders have passed legislation which is harmful to middle income families in North Carolina, especially to teachers.

There are many who feel that the goal of the Republican leaders is to dismantle the public education system in this state. What is the evidence?

  1. Decreased funding for the public schools, in spite of an increase in the number of students;  some schools do not have sufficient textbooks for all of their students.   They often rely on online systems that some teachers use and some don’t; students without internet access at home are at an extreme disadvantage. A lack of funding for supplies has forced teachers to pay for their classroom materials themselves.
  2. Attempted to use public funds for private schools
  3. Attempted to discredit the public schools in the eye of the public ( by using terms such as “failing schools” or “low performing schools.  They want denigrate the public schools so that parents will pull their children out of the public schools.
  4. Made the teaching  profession less attractive
    • No pay raises for several years; the recent pay raise was an election year ploy: it was passed this year just to allow Tillis and Berger to say that they raised teacher salaries, the raise for veteran teachers was less than one percent, there was no provision for continued funding in future years, and longevity pay was cut
    • Eliminated teacher tenure
    • Eliminated the Teaching Fellows Program, which provided scholarships for prospective teachers
    • Attempted to drive a wedge between teachers by providing small salary increases for veteran teachers and larger increases for others
    • Attempted to eliminate tenure protection for teachers
  5. 13% of teachers left the profession last year, primarily because of financial problems
  6. There has been a decrease in enrollment in teacher education programs around the state because the profession is no longer attractive
  7. Several thousand teacher assistant positions were cut
  8. Removed the limits on class sizes
  9. Decreased tax revenue for the state, which will result in even less funding for the public schools
  10. Eliminated automatic funding increases for increased student enrollment (this change means that administrators cannot hire new teachers until a new state budget has been approved, which may be as late as July or August)

This is the reality:  the future for public education in North Carolina is bleak if the Republican leaders retain control!!  Vote Democratic in 2016!