BEV PERDUE: Dismantling public education also dismantles, weakens North Carolina

EDITOR'S NOTE: North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, served from 2009 to 2013. She is the founder of digiLEARN, a national nonprofit dedicated to accelerating digital learning for all ages with a goal of increasing personal learning options for students and expanding opportunities for teachers.

For a second year in a row, North Carolina has been hailed “America’s Top State for Business” in the illustrious CNBC rankings. I’m proud of this honor and I believe it is well earned.

But I believe it’s an honor we’ll lose quickly, thanks to efforts by the leadership of the legislature to cripple our state’s public education system. As a former classroom teacher, an advocate for education and as the former governor of this state, I am heartbroken and appalled by their efforts.

Our state has billions in federal funds that must be spent by 2026. Yet state House and Senate leaders are dismantling our public education system by focusing on telling classroom teachers what to teach in history or science instead of ensuring those educators have the resources and support they need to give every child a quality education and prepare them to be successful in the jobs of today and tomorrow.

I served as governor during one of the worst economic climates our state weathered since the Great Depression. Facing a budget with an 11% shortfall, I fought to protect and increase education funding. While I had to make some tough choices, I succeeded.

I fought for education for two reasons:

• -- It was the right thing to do for our state.
• -- I had taken an oath to uphold the North Carolina Constitution, which includes the constitutional right for all children to have access to a sound, basic, public education. I took that oath seriously.

Our current House and Senate leaders took the same oath I did. But they are ignoring their duty to ensure that all North Carolinians have a sound, basic, public education. While I began our budget process struggling with an 11% shortfall, they began theirs with a $6-billion surplus.

Despite this tremendous surplus, they refuse to release $510 million in court-ordered funding for a consensus program to assure every child does get a quality education. Further, they’re taking away up to $305 million more from public schools, funneling money away from children and teachers over the next decade to increase taxpayer money for private school vouchers. They want to take $2 billion a year more away from public education in the future. And they’re proposing insultingly low teacher salary increases that, for our most experienced teachers, amount to just $250 total over two years.

These short-sighted decisions will impact our state’s workforce, economy and overall health for decades to come. Our state is already lagging when it comes to preparing enough students for jobs currently available in NC’s growing markets. How are we supposed to have the workforce we need in the future if we gut our educational system?

Research has shown, over and over, that the most important factor in a student’s success is an effective teacher. But with this proposed budget, North Carolina is saying our teachers don’t matter – especially our veteran teachers.

North Carolina ranks 36th in teacher pay – and 46th when it comes to beginning teacher pay – which is a far cry from ranking first. A $250 raise for the most experienced teachers isn’t enough to pay for their own child’s care for even one month while they work. With more and more teachers and administrators feeling threatened or unable to do their jobs because politicians keep trying to impose ideology in classrooms, it’s no wonder there are more than 5,000 teacher vacancies in North Carolina. No teacher -- or anyone else for that matter -- wants to work where they are insulted and disrespected.

Historically, North Carolina has had no trouble hiring workers. But now, North Carolina is one of the top 15 states struggling the most with hiring. If we continue to cripple education, it will only get worse and our state will suffer for it.

Our neighbors in Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee – who are second, third and fourth on the America’s Best States for Business list – all outrank North Carolina when it comes to education spending. Education is one of the top factors considered for that list, and you’d better believe our neighbors, who all want to be number one, are watching what our state will do.

I am watching too. I believe in the value of education, and I know North Carolinians do, too. Our legislators say they believe in education, but the actions of our GOP-controlled House and Senate suggest otherwise. I urge them to think of our state motto, Esse Quam Videri – to be rather than to seem – and do the right thing by North Carolina’s children, families, businesses and future and fully and appropriately fund public education.

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