Education

Teachers, supporters to protest before and after school Wednesday

The North Carolina Association of Educators is calling on teachers, parents and community members to picket before or after school on Wednesday to push for more education funding, including teacher raises.

Posted Updated

By
Kelly Hinchcliffe
, WRAL education reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Association of Educators called on teachers, parents and community members to picket before or after school on Wednesday to push for more education funding, including teacher raises.

The NCAE's Organize 2020 Caucus sent an email to supporters about the event and asked them to sign a petition and organize pickets outside of school hours.

"Over 100 days with no budget. Our students need fully funded schools — and our elected representatives need to deliver a budget to make it happen. It's time to take action," the group told supporters by email.

Gov. Roy Cooper recently vetoed a spending plan that included a small raise for teachers. With the budget debate still at an impasse, teachers across the state gathered before school Wednesday morning to voice their opinions.

In Raleigh, teachers, parents, students and other supporters marched to Harris Creek Elementary School before classes began to voice their main message -- that eachers are tired of waiting for a budget agreement and want to see a bump in pay and more resources for education.

This budget impasse has lasted about five months.

The North Carolina Association of Educators, while encouraging the protests, asked that all rallies take place outside of school hours so class time wouldn't be interrupted. 

The president of the organization said it's time to take action, and many teachers who took a stand Wednesday said they agree.

So far, the governor and lawmakers have not been able to reach a middle ground on the budget.

More Wake County teachers are expected to rally after school on Wednesday.

The Durham Association of Educators picketed at four schools last week, saying calls for pay raises and better funding for education seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Six months ago, educators from all over North Carolina marched outside the Capitol for more education funding.

In the latest chapter in the state's five-month budget standoff, Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed four bills Friday morning, calling educator and retiree pay raise bills "paltry." In a news conference, he said educators needed better raises, and he called for a "middle ground" in funding.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger has criticized Cooper for repeatedly vetoing bills that would increase teachers’ pay, calling it a "cynical ploy."

“Gov. Cooper uses teachers as pawns, blocking their pay increases then trying to convince them it's all the Republicans' fault,” Berger said.

Organizers of Wednesday's protest said they expect hundreds to stage walk-ins.

“We’re not being thought of in the General Assembly; we’re not being respected,” said Kristin Beller, president of the Wake NCAE. “The needs of our kids aren’t being heard or respected, and we need to act.”

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