NCAE
NEWS BULLETIN May
2017
NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS
Volume 47, No. 9
We Need You!
Be Part of the “Schools Our Students Deserve” Week of Action During National Teacher Appreciation Week, which begins May 8, NCAE will hold a Week of Action as part of the "Schools Our Students Deserve" Campaign. NCAE will focus its actions on the two campaign goals adopted by the NCAE Board of Directors, one of which is the passage of HB 13 to save the jobs of more than 5,500 arts, music, PE, and world languages teachers, in addition to teacher assistants, media coordinators, librarians, and others. With Gov. Cooper signing the bill into law recently, the focus now turns to the funding of these positions. The second campaign goal is to increase per-pupil funding to at least the national average. Some of the activities in which we hope you will participate include: • Walk-Ins on May 8, where educators and community members will gather and walk into schools in support of passing HB 13 and increasing perpupil funding. If you are planning a walk-in, let us know what school by clicking here. • On May 10, we will host an Advocacy Day here in Raleigh. We are asking members to take a personal day to visit legislators at the General Assembly. To RSVP and see a schedule, click here. • On May 12 and 13, some locals will hold Legislative Forums and invite legislators to discuss our two main campaign goals and other NCAE priorities. If you are holding a town hall or forum, let us know by clicking here. Other forums are being planned over the next several weeks.
Last month, NCAE President Mark Jewell joined a large crowd of parents and public education supporters at a rally on Halifax Mall to urge lawmakers in the Senate to pass House Bill 13.
“NCAE is proud of our educators, parents, and community members for putting the House Bill 13 issue in the spotlight. Without it, 5,500 arts, music, PE, world languages teachers, and teacher assistants would have lost the ability to educate the whole child. This is a short-term, stop-gap measure. NCAE will not rest until next year to ensure funding for these critical teaching positions. We will continue to fight for these resources in this year’s budget and for a long-term solution, which means elevating our per-pupil spending to the national average. Senate leaders created this problem in last year’s budget, and it was shocking to hear some of the disrespectful rhetoric toward North Carolina’s school leaders who were trying to ensure teachers had jobs.” -- President Mark Jewell
Our focus is simple...student success! This means providing them with a curriculum that will guarantee a wellrounded education and providing them with the necessary resources needed to make that happen. We urge you to consider being a part of this campaign
and hope that you will ask your colleagues and anyone else who supports public education to join us in this effort. Stay tuned for additional information, which will appear on our NCAE Facebook page and Web site.