[This is a courtesy posting for Aim Higher NC, a nonprofit campaign working to improve public education in North Carolina.]
On January 5, 2014, Gov. Jim Hunt showed the kind of leadership missing in North Carolina lately by drawing a line in the sand. In an opinion piece published by the Raleigh News & Observer, Gov. Hunt called on Gov. McCrory and the NC General Assembly to agree to a bipartisan plan to raise North Carolina’s teacher pay to the national average in the next four years.It’s an ambitious yet simple goal. North Carolina has done it before and we can do it again. It’s a goal that everyone should be able to rally around.
Join Gov. Hunt by signing this petition calling on Gov. McCrory and state lawmakers to commit to a plan to raise teacher pay to the national average.
Our future is in the hands of teachers. If state government does nothing else, it must at least provide a high quality education for our children.
North Carolina’s public schools are now in a crisis because our teacher pay is embarrassingly low. Last year, North Carolina ranked 46th out of 50 in teacher pay, with an average salary nearly $10,000 lower than the national average. As a result, many teachers are forced to work a second job just to make ends meet. Some are leaving the profession to start more lucrative careers, while others are moving out-of-state to teach elsewhere. We are losing our best and our brightest.
After the divisive legislative session we just endured, let’s rally around something we can all agree on: North Carolina’s teachers deserve better.
Sign the petition right now and let’s start moving North Carolina forward once again.
Many thanks,
Aim Higher NC
