The vast majority of North Carolinians believe in the power of public schools. That's why time and again, the people of North Carolina call for more investments in kids, more resources for teachers, and more support for our public school communities.
More than 80% of North Carolina's children attend a public school. It’s where we teach them the basics of reading and math, plus critical thinking. We nurture their curiosity and prepare them with important life skills so that they can be ready for what’s to come. Every single one of those children deserves a high-quality education.
Yet chronic underfunding, disrespect of education professionals, and prioritizing private school vouchers are leading North Carolina’s schools to fall behind. We are losing educators in record numbers, and our kids are feeling the impact. In this session, state lawmakers have a chance to support our public schools the way North Carolina wants them to. Together, we can strengthen our public schools for the next generation and generations to come.
Invest in our student’s future through professional educator pay
North Carolina educators’ salaries are falling behind their peers, and not just their peers in other states, but their peers in other professions. As a result, vacancies in our public schools are rising and fewer young people are interested in public school careers. North Carolina must reevaluate how it compensates its public-school workforce to ensure that our students continue to have high-quality professionals in the classroom.
- Increase teacher pay to match similarly educated and experienced careers in other professions.
- Maintain a living wage for all Education Support Professionals by increasing pay based on cost-of-living.
- Restore Masters Pay for teachers
- Protect the state retirement and health plans with no additional costs to employees and restore retiree health care for new hires.
- Hire more educators to reduce class sizes, fill vacancies, and help teachers focus on their students — not backfilling other duties.
Student well-being
Educators know better than anyone that students cannot excel in the classroom if they are dealing with significant challenges outside the classroom. Poverty, hunger, sickness, mental health, and safety issues can be a major disruption to student performance. For most young people, schools are also the institution where many of these challenges are diagnosed and treated.
- Hire more student health professionals, such as nurses, counselors, psychologists, and social workers to match national standards.
- Provide free school meals for every student.
School Infrastructure
The failure to fully invest in public schools shows up in the crumbling schools, moldy classrooms, and sweaty trailers found across the state. Western North Carolina has vast needs for school infrastructure in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. North Carolina must invest in our school infrastructure to ensure that North Carolina public schools provide a high-quality education for every child.
- Consider a public school infrastructure bond to make the necessarily large investment needed to provide safe and sturdy schools across North Carolina.
- Invest in Western NC recovery efforts, including school infrastructure.
- Fully fund public schools in accordance with the Leandro decision to reduce geographic and economic disparities in our schools.
- Increase funding and resources for school libraries.
Accountability
Taxpayers have a right to know that their tax dollars are being spent effectively. Education is the largest state expenditure and there are rightly several layers of financial and student performance accountability placed on public schools. In fact, there is too much standardized testing in public schools. In contrast, North Carolina’s private school voucher program has almost zero accountability. We must level the playing field on testing and financial accountability between schools.
- Hold private schools that accept state vouchers funds to the same testing standards as public schools so that we can evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
- Level the playing field in testing and financial reporting requirements between public, charter, and private schools.
Professional educator power and voice
North Carolina’s public school educators play an important role in our democracy, not only as teachers of the next generation but as advocates for their students today. Public school educators are highly trained professionals with expertise in the science of learning. There are also more than 100,000 public school educators statewide. That power and voice should be protected and elevated.
- Provide collective bargaining rights for public school employees.
- Leave curriculum decisions to professional educators—not politicians.
- Protect the voting rights of public school employees and all North Carolinians.
