The Wake County School Board met on Tuesday, March 4 to draw attention to the state legislatures plan that would affect teachers greatly.
In an attempt to cut the budget a little at a time, the state of North Carolina has proposed a plan that is only profitable to a select few. The plan states that only the school’s top 25% of teachers would receive bonuses to their current salaries and only those who sign the 25% contract will give up their tenure.
In a separate plan that will take place over time, the plan will officially terminate all teacher tenures by the year 2018. ¼ of the teachers at each school who are considered the “top teachers” will receive a $500 bonus that can, supposedly, be altered. Of course, that bonus is “pending on funding” so there is no guarantee there will be a bonus at all.
Another of the many stipulations is that the top ¼ of teachers will only be offered this raise once they are awarded a 4 year contract with their respective schools.
I’m no expert about financial matters, especially when it involves budgets, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the North Carolina teachers are getting a bit ripped-off.
If Wake County has anything to say about it, they won’t be resting anytime soon. Upwards of 100 teachers and school administrators showed up at the WCPSS Cary headquarters to join the cause, all wearing red to support their stance. The red T-shirts seen across Wake County schools have become common, symbolizing the unified effort to peacefully protest the salary and tenure cuts.
For teachers, it is also encouraging to note that Wake County is one of many large NC school districts taking action to protest the legislation. Durham County Schools has already passed its resolution to oppose the legislature and upwards of 12 other districts have already or are in the process of doing the same thing.
Wake County passed its resolution to oppose the legislature in its Tuesday meeting, but they even went as far as to plan a meeting with members of the NC legislature itself, including Governor Pat McCrory.
This issue has only just begun, and it will likely only get more heated between the two sides as time goes. However, with nearly 4 years until tenure elimination would go into effect, school districts like Wake County have plenty of time to make themselves heard.
The next meeting of the Wake County School Board will be held on Tuesday, March 18. All are welcome.
