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rantnc.com average for economically disadvantaged students with 39.7% (the state average is 43.4%). The one A (Lee Early College) is right at 48%. The Public Schools Forum sums it up nicely: “What would you think if state legislators created a new A-F school grading system based on poverty, giving A’s and B’s to the schools that serve the fewest poor students while tagging the highest-poverty schools with D’s and F’s? Unfortunately, the current grading scheme produces the same result.” And under the current scale, if little Amy started the fourth-grade with a first-grade math level and ended the fourth grade with a third-grade math level, she’d still be deemed a “failure,” despite her growth. Of course Lee County has great teachers. I have three children in elementary school this year, and I’ve seen teachers cry for joy at my daughter’s academic triumphs, I’ve seen them take my son aside in their free time to monitor his speech, and I’ve seen them spend their mornings talking sports with my youngest because they know and care about his interests. I also understand their frustrations when the children they teach aren’t getting the support from home they need to keep up with their peers. It’s not all on teachers. Tying teacher pay to these outlying factors that our teacher have zero control over is not only unfair, it’s insulting. If you don’t want to pay them more, fine. But don’t threaten their pay. Find out what teachers need and make it happen. And, really … an extra $4,626 over a year is nice, but it doesn’t go nearly as far as you’d think. Smith’s email is void of depth and research. Rather, it’s another dog whistle for the anti-tax, pro school-choice crowd that is quick to point out the education system’s shortcomings but reluctant to really do anything about it. Not only does Smith want to feed most of our kids peanut butter and jelly, he wants to make it damn near impossible to bring in teachers and keep teachers who want to help them succeed. o Send your anger to Billy Liggett at gordon@rantnc.com. Sign him up for a bunch of junk mail while you’re at it.
READER RESPONSE We need our community college system now more than ever To the editor: As North Carolina faces an economic crisis amidst a pandemic, our community colleges will be key to recovery efforts. North Carolina will undoubtedly turn to our 58 community colleges to train and retrain our state’s workforce to meet the increasing demands of a recovering economy and changing business world. To do that, our colleges need to be able to retain and recruit the best faculty and staff who can provide the training our students and businesses need to be successful. Central Carolina Community College is committed to its mission of fostering individual, community, and economic development through transformative lifelong learning while serving the citizens of Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties. Our vision for the College is “Exceptional learning for all.” CCCC offers a wide variety of more than 50 career and university transfer programs, as students can earn associate degrees or college transfer credits, diplomas, or certificates. CCCC also offers instruction in such areas as short-term job training, college & career readiness, personal interests, business & industry, and emergency services training. The CCCC commitment led to two national recognitions in 2020. CCCC was nationally ranked as No. 25 in The Best Community Colleges & Trade Schools of 2020 by Best Colleges. In addition, CCCC was ranked among the Top 50 community colleges in the nation by College Consensus, a unique college ratings website that aggregates publisher rankings and student reviews. Yet, CCCC has its challenges – like other community colleges. We have been fortunate to have outstanding faculty and staff who have greatly contributed to our mission. We would like to continue to retain and recruit quality employees who are dedicated to continuing our successful mission of service. Many businesses face the challenge of recruiting qualified, in-demand employees and then keeping those employees from leaving to go to another employer. North Carolina’s community colleges are no different. Attracting and keeping highly qualified
professionals to prepare North Carolina’s future workforce continues to be a significant challenge – especially in high-demand, highskilled areas such as healthcare, technology, and trades. Although North Carolina has the third largest community college system in the nation, community college faculty salaries, as a whole, consistently rank near the bottom in national comparisons. As lawmakers consider many important issues to our state during this legislative session, our North Carolina Community Colleges are supporting legislation asking for a 7 percent salary increase for faculty and staff. If community college faculty and staff were to receive this salary increase, it would be a significant step toward ensuring that North Carolina has the professionals in place to train the 700,000 students who enroll annually and to help business and industry emerge from the pandemic and rebuild the economy. Julian Philpott Jr. Chairman, Board of Trustees Central Carolina Community College
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With great interest To the editor: I read with great interest your article entitled, “City, county unsure of how to spend millions in aid,” in your April 2021 edition. Ben Brown Smithfield ________________
Do the right thing (Re: The state and county’s decision in May to lift the COVID-19 mask mandate) The fact is, the vaccine works. And the science, thanks to our great doctors, is also fact This is not political. This is a global pandemic. Be a good steward, and get the shot. Be concerned about others, and stop the name calling. We are adults expected to be the example and to do the right thing. Kimberly Stone Sanford
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