I am currently in my fifteenth year of teaching here in my second stint in North Carolina. Before I moved to the metro Atlanta area, I had taught two other years in the same system where I now work.

When I came back as a “new” teacher, Phil Berger and Tim Moore were not in power. And as a “new” teacher the following was freely given to new teachers as part of the agreement to be employed by the state of North Carolina:

1. A salary schedule that had step increases for every year of service.
2. The opportunity to receive due-process rights when I had obtained a continuing certificate after three successful years of teaching.
3. A schedule that included a seven period day with two planning periods and five classes that were capped in size.
4. Graduate degree pay as I had obtained my masters degree.
5. Health benefits as a retiree if I retired as a teacher in NC.
6. Money paid by the state to pursue National Boards.
7. Paid professional development from the state as it was in the budget.
8. The opportunity to receive longevity pay after 10 years of service like other state employees.
9. The absence of a school performance grading system that weighs test scores over student growth.
10. The knowledge that all monies designated for public education was actually going to public schools.

If I was to become a new teacher in 2020 with years of Berger and Moore and all of their “reforms,” how many of those would be available to me now?

 

 

 

None.