Clements 1

Zack Clements
Mrs. Helms
English III Honors
17 November 2017

Public Education in North Carolina

Public education is our greatest pathway to opportunity in America. So we need

to invest in and strengthen our public universities today, and for generations to come.

Michele Obama was a champion for public education while her husband was the

President. Sadly, her love for schooling is met with equal disdain for schooling across

the nation. Particularly in North Carolina, where it appears the state has once again

fallen into Rip Van Winkle mode. North Carolina was ranked 19th at the turn of the

century in teacher pay, that number has now dropped to 42nd. While admittedly teacher

pay should not give an overall analysis of how well a school system is doing, it is a

strong way to see how the system has been changing over the last few decades. In

order to finalize a solution, a correct and complete understanding of the problem is

needed. Why did North Carolinas teacher pay drop from just below the national

average to more than $12,000 below the national average in around a decade? Why

are teachers feeling unprepared to handle classroom situations? Why was graduate pay

removed and what effect does that have on people pursuing teaching in North Carolina?

These questions are essential to figure out exactly what is going on, and how to repair

the damages sown into the schools. And the sooner public education because the

forefront of society again, the sooner North Carolina can become the education hotspot

for both educators and the educated.

Firstly, an overview of North Carolina and its unique relationship with schooling is

needed. A reliable way to learn how education is constantly evolving in North Carolina is
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to look at the past versus now. In the years 2000-2001 Democrats were in charge of the

government here in North Carolina. The last several years however have been under

Republic rule. This however, does not simply mean that Republicans are one hundred

percent to blame for the school system. Other factors such as the recession at the end

of the decade and the national government also are not helping out. It should be stated

though that the current (or former, now with a democratic governor again) state

government has attempted to destroy the fundamentals of a strong education system

through the means of passing laws that either prohibit teachers from certain rights, or by

false promises such as stating that Common Core needs to be re-worked but failing to

work on it nearly two years later (Ballotpedia) So essentially North Carolina is a state

that has had borderline leadership mixed with natural disasters such as the recession

around a decade ago. As an add-on to all of this, charter schools are starting to become

more and more common around the state as well as private schools, which number

around 12,000 schools when combined together (Ballotpedia). With these non-

traditional schools starting to show up more and more, public school is being met with

equal competition. If North Carolina public schools are able to work out the kinks in the

system, it can firmly set its status as the best education in the state and maybe even the

country.

Secondly, understanding teacher pay is a must. In order for teachers to want to

move to North Carolina for a job, they need the incentive of having a good paying job. In

the year 2001, the average pay for a teacher in North Carolina was around $43,000 a

year (WRAL). This was just below the national average of $45,000 and put North

Carolina in the upper half of states in terms of teacher pay. As of 2016, North Carolina
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teachers are paid on average $45,000 a year with the nation average being much

higher at $56,000 a year (WRAL). That is an $11,000 difference in pay. The pay in

North Carolina has dropped nearly 13% in between those two years, when adjusted for

inflation (W Post). So why are teachers being paid less in North Carolina than in other

states? The only logical explanation would be that money that should go towards paying

teachers is going towards other parts of the government, which truly highlights how

much North Carolina cares about teachers, especially since they are considered

government employees. States that pay teachers more (New York for example) end up

having stronger school systems. The first step towards making North Carolina a school

Mecca is being known as the best state for teachers to come and work in. Pay is only

part of the problem though, a majority of teachers also lost access to their Due Rights.

Those rights give teachers the right to question the state and school system without fear

of losing their job. Only veteran teachers still have this ability, which means that in a few

years the amount of teachers who have this ability may be lower than it already is.

Teachers also lost their graduate pay, which means teachers with graduate degrees got

paid more. By removing this feature, the state essentially made getting a graduate

degree useless for teachers. Now any teacher who ends up getting a graduate degree

ends up getting swamped with the student debt instead of having extra money to help

pay for it, and since teachers are no longer going to college for longer to learn less and

less more knowledgeable teachers are joining the schooling system.

While teachers are one aspect of the school system, one that is arguably more

important are the students. If the students are unable to earn a quality education, then

there is no point in even offering education. The key to giving a good education in
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school is to of course gage student input and how things are working. Brycen

Columbus, a senior at Cox Mill High School in Concord North Carolina believes that

schools should get up to speed rather than live in the past. I believe they need to adapt

to current trends and changes in society and better prepare their students for life after

high school. Brycen also thinks that if teachers were to stop assigning busy work to

students, kids would be able to spend more time on school clubs and other extra-

curricular activities. Kevin Frazier, also of Cox Mill High School, states that his biggest

issue with schooling is what time it begins. He says that if classes were to start after

nine A.M. kids would become more engaged due to being more awake. What Kevin is

suggesting is something that is common knowledge among teens and parents. Most

teenagers will end up going to sleep later in the night, and having to wake up at six A.M.

means that they arent getting the good night sleep that some of them need in order to

fight through the day. There are over 1.5 million students in North Carolina public

schools, and a large number of them run into the same problems that Kevin and Brycen

do each and every day (Ballotpedia).

So how do we take the first steps in the right direction regarding schools?

Increase teacher pay and give teachers the rights they have been requesting for several

years. North Carolina can look at other states pay systems in order to understand how

raising teacher pay works, and they can also look at how raising teacher pay effects

schools as a whole. While some teachers like Mr. Egan, who is a veteran teacher out of

Winston- Salem, have their due rights. Other, newer, teachers in the state of North

Carolina had those rights removed and its time to bring them back. In order for schools

to be able to constantly be in a state of evolution, teachers need to be able to critique

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the school system they call home. Another feature that can help attract new teachers to

North Carolina is the re-implementation of the graduate pay. Teachers who get

advanced college schooling should be rewarded instead of having even more student

debt. The latter two changes need to come through the state legislature in order to be

implemented, and its crucial to the states future that teachers are treated in a way they

deem fairly.

If teachers finally get what is deserved of them, students too can now benefit.

North Carolina thankfully has an average of 1:15 student to teacher ratio, and teachers

who have a reason to encourage kids to do well are able to give kids the one on one

they need (Ballotpedia). Teens and other students around the state constantly have to

wake up at unrealistic times in the morning to attend school, only to not be fully awake

until lunch time. By making the school start time later, around nine A.M. kids can sleep

in, giving them what they need to make it through the day. Schools need to be one

hundred percent about the student, so that the student can survive and go on to great

things in life down the road. If students feel as if there classes arent as engaging as

they need to be, then students and teachers can meet and discuss ways to make class

more appealing. If a student is able to feel engaged in class, the student will remember

the information in a more understanding way (just ask the students that were

interviewed). Some teenagers like Nick Castro he explains are hands on learner[s] and

I like to get involved in things opposed to just talking about them. Even Common Core

was scheduled for renovation by former governor Pay McCrory in 2014, that change

needs to occur fast. Common Core has the potential to turn into a strong education

front, but currently it is more of a prime example for faulty education.

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Works Cited

Garrity, Bill. "In The Race To End Public Education, North Carolina Is Leading The
Charge"
Huffington Post, 10 May 2017, Web.

Highlights North Carolina Public Schools, Web.

Hinchcliffe, Kelly, and Clay Johnson. "After Inflation, NC Teacher Pay Has Dropped
13% in Past 15 Years."
WRAL.com, 26 Apr. 2016, Web.

Public Education in North Carolina. Ballotpedia, 20 November 2016, Web.

Strauss, Valerie. "The Assault on Public Education in North Carolina Just Keeps on
Coming."
The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 May 2016, Web.