Today the governor declared a “State of Emergency” for NC public education.

Of course many of the GOP lawmakers and policy wonks decried such a declaration. They talked about how they have done so much for public education in these last few years and how the governor is just performing political theater.

The governor was right to declare a state of emergency for public education for NC. The only thing that was wrong is that he did a few years too late.

If you believe that an ALEC-aligned (American Legislative Executive Council) lawmaker in North Carolina has ever wanted to work for the vitality of public schools, then you are mistaken. And there are many of them.

Take a look at this timeline.

That timeline is filled with actions that are calculated, highly crafted, delicately executed, and driven by dogma deliberately done to hurt public education and communities that rely on public schools. Each occurred before the May 16^th, 2018 march in Raleigh.

Citizens United, you may remember, allowed for corporations and other entities to donate to political candidates. It gave rise to PACs and SUPERPACs. It’s why you now see an incredible amount of money in political races donated by people who have a vested interest in a race or candidate but cannot vote in that race.

HB17 was the legislation produced in a special session in December of 2016 right before Roy Cooper took office. It was a power grab that granted the incoming state superintendent, Mark Johnson, the most power any state super had ever had. Johnson might be the most unqualified person to ever hold the job. What ensued was a lawsuit between Johnson and the State Board of Education that lasted for 18 months. Ultimately, it cemented Johnson’s role as a puppet and led to DPI’s reorganization and reduction of personnel.

The Innovative School District is an educational reform that allows the state to select “poor” performing schools to be taken over by an out-of-state entity. In three years, it had only one school under its umbrella and went through multiple leaders. It eventually faded into nonexistence.

And then there was the Voter ID law, racially driven gerrymandered political maps, and the abolishment of automatically paycheck deductions for groups like NCAE.  (Yes, the Voter ID law and the gerrymandered districting had been overruled, but with a newly GOP heavy state supreme court, they are now on the books again.)

It used to not be this way, but after the Great Recession of 2008 and the rise of a new wing of the Republican Party, a noticeable shift occurred in North Carolina politics. Decades ago, public education was championed by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Think of governors like Holshousher and Martin and you will see a commitment to funding public education like NC saw with Sanford, Hunt, and Easley. The governor’s office and the General Assembly were often in different hands politically speaking, but on the issue of public education, they stood much more united than it is today.

That unification is not there anymore. And it wasn’t caused by public education or its advocates. It was planted, fed, fostered, and championed by those who came to power after the Great Recession. These are not Eisenhower Republicans or Reagan Republicans; they are ALEC Republicans whose sole purpose is to politicize all things and try and privatize as many public goods as possible. And on a state level, nothing is more of a public good than public schools.

They have been very adept at combining racial and social issues with public education to make it hard not only to compartmentalize each through legislation, but easy to exploit how much social and racial issues are tied to public education without people thinking they are interlinked. Laws and mandates like HB2, the Voter ID Law, the gerrymandered districts, and the judicial system overhaul have as much to do with the health of public schools as any other factor.

When you keep people from being able to vote, you affect public education. When you keep people below the poverty line, you affect public education. When you gerrymander districts along racial lines, you affect public education. You cannot separate them exclusively. And we have lawmakers in power who know that very well. It’s why when you advocate for public schools, you must be aware of social and racial issues and be willing to fight along those lines.

Public school advocacy that was “successful” before 2008 will not work as effectively in 2020. No ALEC aligned politician who is in a right to work state that outlaws collective bargaining is going to “work with” advocacy groups like NCAE.

For NCAE and other groups to truly advocate for public schools, they must fight for issues outside of school rooms that affect the very students, teachers, and staff who come into those school rooms.

There are many lawmakers not interested in compromise or debate. They don’t want to build bridges unless they are “moral toll bridges.” After watching legislators like Tim Moore and Phil Berger hold this state hostage through unethical measures to pass budgets, hold special sessions, and pass legislation that continuously weaken our public schools it has become apparent that these are not the people with whom you build bridges.

And before someone says that we must win over those lawmakers from either party who want strong public schools, he/she might want to look at the voting records. Most all of those who voted for taking away longevity pay for teachers, career status and graduate degree pay for newer teachers, teacher assistants in every elementary classroom, and retiree health care also voted for HB2, the Voter ID laws, the gerrymandered maps, and other insulting pieces of legislation.

In fact, why would public school advocates even want to “have a seat at the table” with them? Time and time again, the powers in the NCGA have shown that not only will they not invite teachers to the “table” but that they will go out of their way to make teachers part of the menu.

When in the last ten years has there ever been any indication that teachers and public school advocates would be given even a small role in the building of metaphorical bridges much less have a “seat at the table?”

That’s not a rhetorical question.

And teachers know how to build bridges: differentiated structures that expand classrooms and curricula to bring students together in ways that help them achieve in academics and life. Teachers also know how to “set a table” that includes all stakeholders.

The gerrymandered lawmaking body in Raleigh that claims altruism CAN NOT AND WILL NOT.

In the same period of time as the first timeline, the same powers-that-be have made sure to keep a tight hold on other important issues as well.

And within that time-frame they have also made North Carolina a one-of-a-kind state.

• 20 states currently have a minimum wage that matches the federally mandated minimum wage of $7.25/hour. North Carolina is one of them.

• 7 seven states currently outlaw collective bargaining for public employees. North Carolina is one of them.

• As of 2020, 14 states had not adopted Medicaid expansion. North Carolina was one of them.

We just finally got around to doing that.

• In 2020, 18 states had both vouchers and charter schools. North Carolina was one of them and just expanded the program to people who don’t live in poverty.

• 2 states measure public schools with a formula that weighs achievement more than growth. North Carolina is one of them.

Now name the only state in the country with the lowest legal minimum wage, no collective bargaining rights, no Medicaid expansion for over a decade, loosely regulated voucher and charter school expansion, and a school performance grading system that measures achievement over growth. North Carolina.

Now name a state that has a lower state corporate flat tax. None do. AND ALL OF THIS AFFECTS PUBLIC EDUCATION.

In Pat McCrory’s last year as governor, the GOP super majority changed budget protocol and made the state budget a biennial process. In an odd-numbered year, a budget is set forth to encompass the next two fiscal years. Amendments to the budget can be made in even-numbered years. Furthermore, if a budget is not passed, then the state automatically reverts to the previous budget’s recurring spending levels.

Getting an NCGA that is pro-public education means confronting Voter ID, gerrymandering, Medicaid expansion, and other social/racial issues. That empowers people and opens them up for more chances to have a voice AND USE IT.

When lawmakers have shown no interest in engaging teachers in policies that affect public schools, then there is no need to waste time trying to convert them; you should work to get them voted out.

Oh, and then there is this list of actions done in the last 12 years as well.

1. Teacher Pay Kept Well Below National Average

2. Removal of Due-Process Rights 

3. Graduate Degree Pay Bumps Removed 

4. Retiree Health Benefits Removed For New Teachers

5. Push for Merit Pay and Bonus Pay 

6. Removal of Longevity Pay 

7. Health Insurance and Benefits 

8. Attacks on Teacher Advocacy Groups (NCAE) 

9. Revolving Door of Standardized Tests 

10. Reorganization and a Weakening of the Department of Public Instruction 

11. Less Money Spent per Pupil When Adjusted For Inflation

12. Remove Caps on Class Sizes 

13. Amorphous Measures Like “Graduation Rates”

14. School Grading System 

15. Cutting Teacher Assistants 

16. Read to Achieve 

17. Educational Savings Accounts 

18. Opportunity Grants 

19. Charter Schools 

20. Virtual Charter Schools 

21. Innovative School Districts 

22. Reduction of Teacher Candidates in Colleges 

23. Elimination & Reinventing of Teaching Fellows Program 

24. Frozen Salaries For Years 15-24

25. Ignorance of LEANDRO Decision

26. Bad Safety Protocols During Pandemic

27. Budget Taking Three Years To Pass

And it has produced this:

Garrison Keillor once wrote, “When you wage war on the public schools, you’re attacking the mortar that holds the community together. You’re not a conservative, you’re a vandal.”

We’ve been in an intentional “State of Emergency” in public education here in NC for years.