Emblazoned with red, crying out for something better in the name of the children, public school teachers will march in Raleigh today.
Back home, classrooms in more than 30 of the state’s 115 districts will be idle. Children in those districts will be somewhere, their parents having to develop makeshift plans for watching them the way they do when severe weather encroaches. Their minds will not be getting the instruction they should as the end of the year creeps closer.
Public school teachers have a right to protest and bring awareness to things for which they object. This year, the N.C. Association of Educators says that means providing enough school librarians, psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses and other heath professionals to meet national standards.
It also means providing a $15 minimum wage for all school personnel, a 5 percent raise for all school employees and a 5 percent cost of living adjustment for retirees; expanding Medicaid to improve the health of students and families; reinstating state retiree health benefits for teachers who will be hired after 2021; and restoring extra pay for teachers with advanced degrees such as a master’s.
The NCAE, of course, is the ringleader for teachers in a state where unions are not allowed. They’ve latched on to mostly liberal lawmakers, and the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
There’s nothing wrong with the NCAE and teachers putting their eggs in the baskets of those folks. We do object to teachers walking out of the classroom on a school day to stage this protest.
Their opinions matter and should be voiced. Their route to achieving that is where they need to do some homework.
As we stated in this space two months ago, we have a desire to see the model of public schools be enhanced and remain available to all while the school choices we’ve seen yield significant success stories continue to flourish.
Children in our state should have what we as a country want for all of our citizens — the best in choices. That’s at the heart of a free country. More and more, rightly so we believe, parents have been given options for educating their children.
These are some of the smartest shoppers around, especially when it comes to their children. They visit schools and they see body language and actions of its leadership, of the personnel who will be responsible for guiding their child through the education process.
It is little different than in a few years when children have college choices.
Educators believe all of the rally points are woven into the success of children, including having the top talent to teach them.
We believe there’s a better way to get this message out, and have it come to fruition, than leaving their classrooms to march in Raleigh.