… even the bare minimum of respect for the teaching profession for those who have been teachers or would ever want to be teachers to feel valued inside of a North Carolina classroom.

And that lack of respect comes from the top which is ironic when it comes to the ideology of those in power in the NC General Assembly.

The idea that financial prosperity for all can be accomplished through “trickle-down economics” with tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations has never shown validity. But “trickle-down false narratives” about hot-button issues like public education flow quickly and flood social media outlets.

Right now there still exist thousands of vacancies in our schools.

And then today WFAE.org released a post talking about the NC teacher pipeline “and where teachers fall off.”

And here’s the most telling part:

Out of all first-year teachers in 2024, 40% came from the state’s EPPs. That’s down from 52% just three years ago. A growing number of teachers — or 28% — have not gone through an EPP yet and are teaching on emergency permits — a one-year, nonrenewable permit that allows a teacher to teach. Many of those will ultimately enter an EPP and begin working toward becoming long-term teachers — but many others will not and will ultimately exit the profession, Baxter noted.

Meanwhile, 19% of first-year teachers in 2024 came from out-of-state, and 11% came from outside of the United States.

“If you add up the out-of-state and the international, it means that North Carolina is dependent on other places for about 30% of our first-year teachers in any given year,” Baxter told the board.

Here’s an added twist: While the percentage of teachers coming from EPPs is going down — enrollment in those programs is up 20% over the last 10 years.

Damn!

But if you have been a teacher in North Carolina for the last 15-plus years, you are not at all surprised by these trends. Just look at the differences from 2009 until now.

Toward the end of WFAE’s report it states, “Board members discussed possible reasons for the drop-offs — compensation was a big one, with some EPPs reporting losing enrollees to neighboring states. Workplace conditions are another factor.”

Working conditions? No sh*t.

Here’s just a list of what they could look at as far as “working conditions” are concerned and most of them have to do with what happens outside of a classroom:

• 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 Changes
• 8. Attacks on Teacher Advocacy Groups (NCAE) 
• 9. Revolving Door of Standardized Tests 
• 10. Reorganization and a Weakening of the Department of Public Instruction Under Mark Johnson and Catherine Truitt
• 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. Unregulated Educational Savings Accounts 
• 18. Vouchers For Wealthy People
• 19. Unregulated Charter Schools 
• 20. Virtual Charter Schools 
• 21. Innovative School Districts 
• 23. Elimination & Reinventing of Teaching Fellows Program 
• 24. Frozen Salaries For Years 15-24
• 25. Ignorance of LEANDRO Decision
• 27. Budgets Taking Three+ Years To Pass