Yesterday, North Carolina Democratic Leaders Dan Blue and Robert Reives, alongside Democratic legislators from both the House and the Senate, joined together to hold a press conference on the damage that the Republican reluctance to pass sufficient funding for our public schools is having on children and educational staff across North Carolina.

Heading into a new school year, and a new legislative session, Democratic leadership called for the Republicans to stop holding out on passing the funding necessary to solve teacher shortages and school supply shortages in all 100 counties – arguing that a prior court decision already ruled North Carolina’s public schools are owed $785 million due to demonstrated underfunding.

North Carolina is experiencing higher than average teaching staff shortages across the state – with 11,297 teaching staff vacancies. In the press conference, House Democratic Leader Robert Rieves specified that those vacancies included over 3,600 are K-12 teachers, 1,300 are bus drivers, 850 special education teachers, 4,300 are support staff, and more than 350 are counselors, social workers, and school psychologists. A list far too long that is having a real impact on not just education professionals, but students across the North Carolina public education system.

News & Observer: Stop ‘demonizing’ public school teachers, NC Democratic leaders say

• “You don’t put the bullseye on their back and organize people across the state to demonize them for what they are teaching in a basic education plan,” Blue said. “Should you demonize teachers because they’re teaching some aspect of civics, so the kids understand how their government is organized in elementary school? Should you demonize them because you’re trying to teach them rudimentary concepts of science, while they’re young?”
• “A lot of the division you see right now starts at the government level,” Reives, of Chatham County, said. “If suddenly the government was into the solution, instead of interested in just creating more of a problem, I think it becomes a more attractive profession.”

WRAL: Democrats call for action as vacancies among NC K-5 teachers jump by 65% this year

• “We’re in session and if we decide we can start addressing these issues,” Blue said. “We don’t have to wait till January. It’s critical enough. The alarms are going off.”
• “In fact, we’re sitting on billions of dollars in reserves, while students are going back to class without teachers or other essential employees that make our schools work,” Reives said. “We as legislators have the ability to provide more resources to these so we can recruit and retain the best possible teachers and school staff for our students.”

Associated Press: Democrats: NC educators need financial and moral support

• But “it’s about more than just money,” said Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, a Wake County Democrat. “Educators are underpaid, overworked and importantly, underappreciated.”
• Rep. Robert Reives of Chatham County, Blue’s counterpart in the House, said there are several billion dollars in state coffers left unspent that could address a “crisis of resources” in the schools. Both he and Blue said schools also are having trouble filling vacancies because too many people are unfairly “demonizing” public education as well as teachers for curriculum or other hot-button social issues.

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