Editorial: NC teachers can march to be heard, but must vote to make a difference
Tuesday, April 24, 2018 -- If North Carolina's 108,055 public school instructional staff wants to be heard, go ahead and march on the legislature. But if they REALLY want to make a difference, they should march themselves, and all those they know, to the polls to vote.
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Here’s what North Carolina public school educators face in providing a quality education to the state’s children:
- School buildings where sewage seeps up through floors and plaster falls from ceilings.
- Text books so old it is hardly a joke that they seem to treat the Civil War as a contemporary event.
- Students without access to technology tools – laptops, smart tablets and educational software – providing up-to-date instruction.
- Drastic cuts in teacher assistants.
- Shortages of nurses, psychologists and counselors.
- Funding for supplies. It’s so miserly that teachers spend hundreds of their own dollars and conduct “go-fund-me” campaigns so students have the basics.
- Un-funded mandates threatening the jobs of hundreds of physical education, international language, music and art teachers.
Marching on the legislature to be heard is fine. But this legislature is one with a veto-proof majority. It seems more focused on arming school personnel with weapons of deadly force than equipping teachers and students with tools to build a better work force.
If public education advocates want to be heard, they need first to have representatives in the General Assembly willing to listen.
The only way to do that is in the voting booth. They should be spending at least as much energy, if not more, focused on getting teachers – and those who support them – to vote in the upcoming May 8 primary and on Nov. 6 Election Day.
There’s plenty of talk about various groups being energized, but the reality is that there isn’t much on the ballot that typically motivates voters.
Like 2010, which witnessed a massive political alignment shift from school boards and county commissions to the state legislature, there are no marquee statewide contests such as U.S. senator or governor where big campaign spending helps ignite voter interest. The number of hotly contested local or legislative primaries is tiny.
There are some suggestions that this might not be a typical year. Young voters have been particularly motivated following the recent tragic school shootings and protests that sprang from them. There’s been a very significant spike in North Carolina voter registration among those who will be eligible to vote for the first time.
If the 108,055 public school instructional staff wants to be heard, sure go ahead and march on the legislature.
But if they REALLY want to make a difference, they should march themselves, and all those they know, to the polls to vote.
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