Editorial: Purposeful efforts to diminish N.C. public education must stop
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 -- Voters should demand candidates for the state legislature acknowledge the dire situation of N.C. public schools, promise to adopt the Comprehensive Remedial Plan to provide quality education and vote out those have ignored the needs of our schools.
Posted — UpdatedIt takes a determined effort to drop from 19th in average teacher pay nationally to 47th in about a decade and then settling in at the bottom half in the nation and a basement hugging 46th in average starting teacher pay.
Similarly, it takes some hard work to descend from 34th in per-student spending to near the basement. In the last year public school spending dropped $500 per-student accounting for inflation (from 2021-22 year to 2022-23).
That hard work has paid off – but not to the benefit of students, their parents, their teachers, or the schools.
Headlines, all within the last week, tell the story but shouldn’t be a surprise to legislative leaders.
- N.C. teacher turnover hits highest mark in decades
- Few N.C. students with learning disabilities are passing
- N.C.’s teachers leaving in droves
- Asheville City Schools have highest rate of teachers quitting in N.C.
- State, local districts report higher teacher turnover rates
- State data show teacher turnover, vacancies continue to rise
- N.C. teachers are leaving the profession
Teachers are fleeing, fewer students are studying to enter the profession, substitutes are leading more classrooms and the shortage of supervisors has increased the number of students per classroom.
On top of that, failure to provide financing to expand the number of classrooms and modernize facilities, has teachers and students under resourced.
Berger, Moore and their followers in the General Assembly own the diminishment of North Carolina public schools.
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.