Unlike a lot of current members of the NC General Assembly I have a great deal of respect for teachers.  My mother has been a teacher, librarian, and technology specialist in the WCPSS for over 20 years.  The mother of my daughter is a teacher, as are her mother and brother, and many of my friends have joined the teaching profession working in elementary, middle and high schools here in North Carolina.  Having been surrounded by teachers all of my life I find Senator David Curtis’ response to a letter sent to all NC legislators by a teacher in Charlotte extremely insulting and completely out of touch.  

In his response Senator Curtis shows that a lack of understanding on how teacher pay works when he suggested that the teachers get 8 weeks of paid vacation a year. North Carolina teachers are paid for 10 months of work a year and have the choice of having their pay spread over either the 10 month school year or the full year. This is a true Sophie’s Choice for a starting teacher earning just over $30K a year.  Even established teachers face this difficult choice with average teacher salary in the state being $46K, which to put into perspective is not only around $7K below the national average, but also less than a friend of mine makes as the manager of a Domino’s. 

Senator Curtis goes on to rail against the greedy teacher’s union (a specious argument, without collective bargaining rights the NCAE can hardly be called a union).  He also chastises the teacher for not recognizing the benefits that the state graciously bestows upon her.  Just out of curiosity I Googled the list of benefits offered by Senator Curtis’ own employer, take a look.  Those are some pretty sweet benefits, especially for a job that averages $104K a year in Senator Curtis’ area. I imagine that NC’s teachers would appreciate if their employer paid for their renewal courses and licensing costs, oh and the “well-equipped work environment” probably looks like a nice kick in the teeth to teachers who are using ten year old textbooks to teach their students. I wonder how Senator Curtis would feel if he had to make up and bring in his own eye charts from home? 

I say that Senator Curtis is out of touch, but he’s hardly the only one. He’s just the most obvious example (and the only one dumb enough to hit ‘reply all’ when sending out insulting emails). This being an election year, teachers will be getting a raise.  Of course it will only be a token raise, and it won’t offset the 15% drop in teacher pay (adjusted for inflation) that NC’s teachers have seen in the last decade. So take a page out of Senator Curtis’ book, and when you run into a teacher working a second job this summer at the grocery store, pool, or maybe McDonalds, ask them why they’re all such ingrates when they have it so good.