Public Education

Let me just say first thing.  You may think that Alice (me) has gone off her rocker, but I must share my opinions with the public readers of the newspapers that will print my editorial.

First, I think that public tax dollars should go for public works: public schools; public technical and community colleges and public colleges and universities; public roads and highways; public health; public infrastructure; etc. I do not think that public tax dollars should go to private entities: private schools; private colleges and universities; nor to private projects.

I also think that our senators and representatives are no longer representing the will of the people and are misguided in the expenditure of public tax dollars.  Therefore, any elected official to the legislature who does not know how to spend the taxpayers tax money should resign immediately and be replaced with individuals who have the public interests and needs of the taxpayer first and foremost.

Now, let me address public education. Have our public school children recovered the test scores since pre-Covid? Are our public school children scoring at the state level or above? If not, why not?  Let’s note a couple of reasons. (1) The classrooms are understaffed using personnel that are not qualified or certified for the assignment given. (2)  The public school teachers are grossly underpaid. (3) When you have a meager salary schedule for personnel, the best and brightest young graduates do not choose education even though they want to be a teacher, but they know that they cannot pay their bills on a teacher salary schedule. (4) The previous financial statement tells us why there were 5,000 teaching positions filled by unqualified personnel in North Carolina public schools in 2023-2024, and 500 positions in Duplin County classrooms. (5) Now, the legislature is trying to attract new graduates by giving a 10% salary increase per year through year 15. That is not adequate because the starting salary is too low and then the legislature thinks they have the teacher locked into education by year 15.  Then the teacher gets no more raises for the next ten years until the year 25. Then the teacher receives a meager salary increase of $2,310 and no more salary increase for the remainder of their career.  Can you as an intelligent individual believe this information? (6) Now, I am not opposed to private schools, but private schools are just like private colleges and universities. If you have the money and want to spend that extra money to send your children to private schools which have the privilege to operate independently of the government then send your children there. I do not think the legislature in North Carolina should be subsidizing the private schools at the expense of the public schools. Do you know that the legislature has been subsidizing private schools for over 10 years? Obviously some people knew that.  Do you know that now there are no income qualifications to get the money to go to private schools. I guess any student that is accepted by a private school can get the money and attend the private school. (7) Now let me address the educational lottery.

It is stated that the educational lottery passed because two Republicans were absent when the vote was taken and Beverly Perdue cast the tie-breaking vote.  All money from the educational lottery, minus operational expenses, should go to education. When the education lottery was approved in 2005 by a Democrat-controlled legislature, it was determined that 35% of the lottery money would be allotted to education in addition to the money already in the general budget.  That did not happen, and the educational lottery money supplanted the money that was already allotted in the general budget for education.  Before the educational lottery even went into effect, the legislature removed the stipulation that 35% of the lottery funds go to education and left the amount to the discretion of the legislature. To make matters worse, Gov. Perdue diverted $50 million from the educational lottery to cover a budget shortfall. In 2023, 23% of the educational lottery money went to education and in 2024, 20.3% went to education. The lottery money is being rerouted to private schools. Now, hopefully you understand why the public-school teacher is underpaid and the students are underperforming.

North Carolina should offer the best education in public schools that can be received anywhere, private or public. The teachers in North Carolina public schools should be funded with the highest salary in the nation. Why not? North Carolina teachers should be paid commensurate with other four-year programs. Working with children is the most demanding job. Working with children is hard to do and not every person is qualified to teach.  The appropriate salary must be in place and then applicants for education should be screened just as one is screened for other majors.  If one does not have the aptitude to teach, then redirect the applicant to a more suitable profession. Teachers should love the students, the good ones and the not-so-lovable ones, and then love to teach.  Amen.

Alice Scott is a retired educator and resident of Pink Hill.