10 things we learned shadowing a lawmaker during the NC teacher rally

"Listen to learn. Don't listen to object," he told himself.

Once inside his office, he gestured to a sign on his door, one he printed out himself and returns to on days like these: "Please Come In. Agreement NOT Required."

As House chairman on two education committees, Horn was sure teachers would want to meet with him. Some had already signed up for time slots. Others would come without warning, wanting a meeting.

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"Will I say something stupid?" Horn wondered aloud early Wednesday before the crowd of teachers made it downtown. "It scares me to death. I'm a human being. I'm very capable of saying something stupid. Will I be patient enough to listen and not fight back?"

As thousands of teachers descended on downtown Raleigh, Horn allowed a WRAL News reporter to shadow him for the day. He spoke at length about the teacher rally, how he feels about the North Carolina Association of Educators, the three things he asks every teacher he meets, and what helps him get through difficult days. Here are 10 things we learned:

"I don’t believe the teachers’ best interests are being served by this day. I don’t believe the kids’ best interests are being served by this day," Horn said, sitting in his office inside the Legislative Office Building.

Instead, the teachers should have invited lawmakers to their classrooms – a formal invitation, not the causal invite he often gets: "Well, my classroom's always open. You can come visit anytime."

"That’s not an invitation, really. That’s like saying, 'Well, if you're in the neighborhood, drop in sometime,'" Horn said.

"Let us see, smell, hear, feel what they endure, what they deal with and what their myriad of challenges are," he said. "For people to demonstrate and holler and scream, it might make them feel better, but more likely it’ll make them hoarse, not smart. I want to see people like me out from behind our desk, out of Raleigh and in the schools."

Although he disagreed with the teachers' methods, Horn said he does not denigrate their right to march and rally.

"I expect people to stand up for their beliefs and their profession," he said. "I think the more effective way is to hold the drumbeat of inviting legislators into the classroom."

Horn didn't know what to expect ahead of Wednesday's teacher rally but said he has seen "some pretty raucous stuff" in his time as a legislator.

"I've been cursed at. I've had things thrown at me. I don’t recall that someone’s actually taken a swing at me here, although I have seen folks take a swing at a legislator," he recalled.

What's been thrown at him over the years? A tomato, snowballs and one stick. But no rocks, that he can remember.

"My wife’s very worried about me. She's worried for my safety," Horn said, adding that he doesn't think teachers would physically harm him. "She says, 'Craig ... you don’t have to be in the middle of everything. And, of course, she's right."

"This is going to be controversial, what I'm about to say," Horn warned before uttering his next sentence. "I don’t believe that NCAE is working in the best interest of the teachers. I'm sorry to say that, because I think they could. I think they did. I don’t think they currently do."

One point of contention – the group's constant push for raises for all teachers, no matter their ability.

"I don’t think we should be rewarding people that aren’t doing their job," Horn said. "I think we should be incentivizing people to do better than they think they can and rewarding those that do."

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NCAE has asked lawmakers for a multiyear compensation and benefits plan for all educators that includes "significant and livable raises" for all public school employees, annual cost-of-living increases and other salary demands.

When Horn asks teachers to share their concerns, salaries rarely come up, he said.

"Based on what allegedly [Wednesday's rally] is about, I would think, 'Well, you need to pay us more,'" Horn said. But "I seldom hear that from teachers. I do hear it. For some people it is top of the fold."

The most common concern he hears? That teachers feel disrespected.

"I get that, but it's not by legislators," he said. "I think teachers are treated very poorly, mostly by parents, not by legislators. I think we ask way too much of teachers. We put way too many paperwork burdens on them. We want them to be everything to everyone all the time."

Teachers want Horn's attention, but so do other state employees. The constant requests for funding make Horn feel like a circus performer trying to keep plates spinning in the air, he said.

"Everyone, and naturally so, thinks what they’re doing is the most important thing in the world, and I give them credit for that. They have a right to be heard. They have an obligation to advocate," he said.

But teachers aren't the only ones asking for more.

"Our state troopers are among the lowest-paid troopers in the nation. Our prison guards – what a terrible job. They're working 12 [hours] on and 12 off. Twelve hours a day in those terrible positions, and we’re paying them crap."

In an ideal world, Horn would like to visit two to three schools a week in different parts of the state. He doesn't always meet that goal, but when he does visit schools, he asks every teacher the same three questions:

"I get hundreds, and I mean hundreds of emails every day," Horn said, noting that he had more than 2,000 unopened emails at the moment. "Emailing me is the biggest waste of time you can do."

Instead, Horn prefers to talk with teachers by phone – he often gives out his cellphone number – or in person, especially by visiting their school.

"Invite me to your school. I want to be in your classroom. But I also want to sit down and meet with you and your colleagues. No administrators. No principals. No superintendents. Just you and me and we’ll have a pinky promise that whatever we discuss does not leave the room," he said. "Bring me into your environment, rather than you coming into mine. Mine’s a fake environment. This isn’t real world here. I need to know your world more than you need to know mine. I work for you. You don’t work for me."

Horn visits a lot of schools but said he often has to ask to be invited. A few years ago, he asked to visit a school near his home in Union County. Three days before his scheduled visit, the school suddenly canceled.

"I got a phone call telling me my invitation had been rescinded," Horn recalled. "What they said was, 'We’re not interested in anything you could have to say.'"

"Really? Really?" Horn said, recalling the memory. "It still burns me. It still hurts me. I have never refused to meet with anyone."

Horn said he thinks the NCAE and some teachers view him as representing "the common enemy" because of his stance on education issues, including teacher pay.

"Does anyone really believe, really, that here I am, a grandpa, 74 years old, that I spent my money, my time, my effort so that I could destroy public education? Really?" he said. "Does that make any sense whatsoever? Of course not."

Horn is running for his fifth term in office. If he wins, it will be his final term, he said.

"I admit. I'm pooping out. I worry about, 'Have I become isolated? Have I become a little arrogant in my knowledge?' I hope I never get to that point where I think I know more than someone else, because I don’t," he said.

He takes a deep breath as he looks at the unread emails on his phone, the stacks of reports on his desk and the constant knocks on the door from his assistant, alerting him that people are outside waiting to meet with him.

"They want 100 percent of my attention. And, oh by the way, I have a wife, four grown children and seven grandchildren that all want my attention. I would like to have a life," Horn said. "This is not my last stop, I hope. I want to contribute. I want my family to be proud of me. I want to try to leave this place a little better than I found it."

He is concerned about who would take his leadership position after he leaves the General Assembly, especially because it requires so much work. But he doesn't think anyone will miss him.

"No one's going to miss me when I'm gone. They’ll laugh and joke about me, but they wont miss me," he said. "I get that. I probably have an inflated view of my own worth. Most of us do."

As the teacher rally grew closer Wednesday morning, Horn noticed some messages on his phone and smiled.

"My friends are all saying, 'Good luck today!'" Horn laughed. "Well, it's nice to know I have friends. There are days when I don’t think so."

Not long after, another message came through, this time from Harnett County Schools Superintendent Aaron Fleming. Horn read it aloud.

"Good morning. Harnett County will be teaching almost 21,000 kids today. We are one of, if not the largest, school districts open," Horn read from his phone. "Don’t forget about the great things you are doing for this state. Have a great day and be safe."

"Ahh," Horn said, touching his heart. "We all need some of that, a little encouragement. Because when I'm in here at 10, 11 o’clock at night still listening to voicemails telling me what a jerk I am, and I'm three hours from home ... It is what it is."