In the 30
years that I served CMS, North Carolina failed to live up to its financial obligations
to our educators on at least 3 occasions.
When I went to Charlotte out of college in 1982, the country was
enmeshed in a deep recession. The step
raise program promoted so proudly to recruit teachers from other parts of the
country had been frozen in 1980 and would remain so until 1985, the recession
officially ended in 1982. In 1986, CMS
began a “career ladder pilot” that would provide bonuses, paid monthly, for
teachers who were willing to subject themselves to an intense series of
observations. When the recession of
1991 hit, North Carolina froze teacher salaries on the third year of a
commitment to get them to the national average and ended the bonus program. For the next five years, teachers who had
earned “Career Status” were “held harmless” to allow the income of peers with
equal experience to catch up. The frozen salary often meant that the earning
power of many dropped over a span of five years.
In 1995, North Carolina jumped into
the standards movement with both feet.
The state implemented testing for reading and math along with a bonus
program for schools. Schools that
achieved expected growth would earn bonuses of $750.00 per certified staff member. Schools that achieved high growth would earn
bonuses of $1500.00. The ABCs of North
Carolina, as this program was penned, cruised along for about ten years with
many schools earning bonuses for their teachers along with standard pay
raises. However, by 2005 it was
discovered that the reading and math tests were not actually representing true grade
level performance. A consequence of
this reality was that more and more schools were earning the bonuses that the
state then determined it could not afford.
North Carolina then made the tests more rigorous and decided to reduce
bonuses. When the economy collapsed in
2008, the ABC bonuses were withheld. In
my last four years as Principal, after meaningful changes to the tests, Myers
Park Traditional Elementary achieved high growth each year, and my staff did
not receive a dime. North Carolina never
paid them the $6000.00 they earned for their performance.
Over the past four decades, half of the
teachers entering the profession leave within five years. In an October 2013 article in The Atlantic
by Liz Riggs, it was noted that 15.7% of teachers leave the profession
annually, about 4% higher than other professions, and that about 40% pursuing
undergraduate degrees never enter classrooms.
There are a myriad of reasons noted in the article, most relating to the
demands of the job, lack of respect from supervisors and society, along with
inadequate pay.
The past three decades in North
Carolina have demonstrated to teachers and prospective teachers that the
commitment to improving salaries and classroom conditions is never realized. As
Eric Davis’ of the CMS Board of Education advocates, 2/22/14 Charlotte
Observer, the state could overcome this perception by taking a long view on
improving teacher pay. I would like to
add that this long view should never be compromised. Planning for funding should include
provisions for inevitable recessions. I
realize that none of us are immune to cyclical economic downturns, but the only
way that we will improve our teaching corps and convince the most qualified to
participate would be to end a history of inconsistent support from state
governments. Since all seem to agree
that the teacher has the greatest impact on student performance, with
Principals not far behind, then we should show prospective and current teachers
that we are committed to support them financially over a long period of time. School reform will ring hollow until this
happens and many of the best teaching candidates will continue to leave or enter
other professions.
I wrote this about three years ago
as I was transitioning to become a principal in Alabama. In that time, states across the country have
dramatically reduced spending in K-12 and at state universities. This while the economy has fully recovered
from the “Great Recession.” The current
defunding of public education during a period of economic growth is
unprecedented. If the reason for this
trend is to keep the populace uniformed, then the threat to our nation is
profound. If the reason is simply greed
and inattention by the public, as
evidenced through the passivity of our electorate, then the threat represents a pervasive trend
that could result in the end of this democratic experiment. Diverse thought and energetic debate have
been a historic mainstay of our Republic when it is healthy. If we choose to divest in a meaningful
education for our children, our republic faces a threat as great as any
external enemy.
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