NCAE News Bulletin
4
Members Weigh In …
How Do We Solve the Educator Shortage in North Carolina?
If we put you, our members, in a room and asked you to solve what ails public education, we expect that you would produce an amazing list of recommendations! While we know you can’t physically come together to brainstorm, we did solicit answers to the following question – “What do you think needs to be done to eliminate the educator shortage in North Carolina?”
According to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, more than 10 percent of classrooms in some rural counties in 2019-2020 (the latest year reported) went more than 40 days into the new school year without a licensed permanent teacher. Person County in Region 4, located near the Virginia border, had the state’s highest teacher vacancy rate in 2019-2020, with 13.1 percent of classrooms operating for 40-plus days without a licensed, permanent teacher. Other counties with high vacancy rates were Anson, Northampton, Halifax, and Vance counties. To see vacancies in your district, visit your district’s website.
We appreciate all of the responses received. Here are a few of the comments that were shared:
“Salary would be a key factor in keeping veteran teachers and encouraging new graduates to take up the teaching profession. I miss the old step system we had when I first began. We had EOG bonuses, longevity, incentives that made me feel like doing my best would get a side benefit of a bit more financial gain. It's amazing how close the salary of a new teacher and a veteran truly are - and the 10-year gap with no raise; I don't need to say anything else.” — Bobby Blankenship, Wilkes County
“Higher pay, more autonomy, fewer non-academic responsibilities; real protections from nepotism, retaliation and abuse of position.” — Lorry Henry, Brunswick County
“It’s probably tough to retain teachers based on salary alone and benefits. They are reasonable when you first start and you are single. But especially for men trying to be the breadwinner, it is tough. I have four kids and my salary is so low my kids qualify for Medicaid and they qualified for WIC benefits when they were under 5. If my wife worked in the past, she would barely break even on daycare costs and at one point, daycare would have cost more than working. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a single parent.” — Randy Eich, Union County
“One way to help end the teacher shortage is to provide a step increase and wage increase to teachers who choose to stay in the classroom beyond 25 years. This is my 36th year in the classroom. I haven't had a pay raise in many years due to the General Assembly wanting to increase the starting pay of teachers. Teachers start out with a good base salary but once they start to have a family, make a house payment, and all the extra duties that come with working in a school, teachers choose to have more regular hours due to having a family. After a few years, teachers grow tired of the additional expectations added on and the pay doesn't increase much. Please reward experienced teachers that want to remain in education even after 25 years of instruction. We feel like we are being forgotten and stepped over.” — Donna Whitfield, Washington County
“If we want teachers to stay in the profession in North Carolina, we must once again show them that they are valued, trusted professionals. We must increase our per-pupil-spending and bring back school support specialists, teacher assistants, social workers, and school nurses. I warrant that many folks think our schools still have the same support they enjoyed and benefited from when they were in school; they would feel shocked that those supports have gone extinct. If North Carolina really wanted to ensure every student had a qualified teacher in front of students, they could. It is a matter of will, a choice. Because there are simple steps related to funding our public schools that the NCGA has elected not to pursue to address the "teacher shortage" it becomes clear that it is by design. We must then question, to what end?” — Jonathan Ball, Guilford County
(Click here to read more comments)
