1. Provide enough school librarians, psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, and other health professionals to meet national professional-to-student standards;

Every superintendent can tell you what the ratio of media specialists, social workers, counsleors, etc. is in their schools. And those numbers are atrocious in every LEA that this blog has looked into around the state because local school systems cannot afford them. But funding these positions to meet national standards should not be a job for the local school systems; it should be the state’s.

2. Provide $15 minimum wage for all school personnel, 5% raise for all ESPs (non-certified staff), teachers, administrators, and a 5% cost of living adjustment for retirees;

Maybe the public should look into what it takes to actually outfit a school and keep a school system working. Bus drivers, aids, etc. are the glue that keeps schools together. Without at least a minimum of 15$ / hour wage, every local school system is having to spend time and money just to keep these positions filled.

And constant turnover costs money. For the local systems.

3. Expand Medicaid to improve the health of our students and families;

When 500,000+ people in the state of North Carolina could have health insurance if North Carolina simply expanded Medicaid as so many other states already have, then you are dealing with a legislative body that is not interested in helping many stay healthy.

Medicaid expansion would be a great step in combating the forces of poverty with which over a fifth of our public school students fight against every day.

Simply put:

• Students who do not get the basics on a daily basis have a hard time achieving in school.
• Students who cannot get health care have a hard time achieving in school.
• Students who worry about loved ones who cannot afford healthcare have an extra burden upon their shoulders when they come to school.

4. Reinstate state retiree health benefits eliminated by the General Assembly in 2017;

Many school districts have severe teacher shortages. The NC State School Board just loosened requirements for out-of-state teachers to come into the state and get reciprocity.

There is a bill to help bring back veteran teachers to teach in Title I and high-poverty areas because they are hard to staff.

Our collegiate schools of education have much lower numbers of teacher candidates because fewer students want to become teachers.

Restoring these benefits for new hires might help alleviate those burdens as it would not only help recruit teachers but keep them until they retire as teachers.

5. Restore advanced degree compensation stripped by the General Assembly in 2013.

If the North Carolina General Assembly thought that abolishing the graduate degree pay increases for teachers is a good policy, then it needs to convince North Carolinians that our state does not need veteran teachers who are seasoned with experience. Teachers who seek graduate degrees in education (and/or National Certification) are themselves making a commitment to pursue careers in public education. When the state refuses to give pay bumps for graduate degrees, then the state just ensured that North Carolina will not have as many veteran, experienced teachers in our schools in the near future. Those teachers will not be able to afford to stay in the profession. Yet, we as a state cannot afford to lose them.