Huge props to you and every other educator supporting y’all! Fight the good fight!
It would be nice to see some substantial changes in North Carolina’s handling of teachers (and school funding). I noticed that South Carolina is starting to get on the bandwagon, but I think they may be less successful, for the simple reason that the Republicans in SC are a bit more responsive to the needs of schools and teachers. Not a lot, but every little bit helps.
Early on in the OK strike, one teacher from a smallish District posted (on Facebook, IIRC) a pic of the only chair, besides desks, in her classroom and it was small plastic chair with cracks all around it. She said it was all she could have, per budget, and if she could afford a new one, she’d get one herself. However, her salary was not enough to even buy a simple new cheap-ass chair for her students to use when needed.
Within a day or two, those voters who saw said chair got a lot more active/supportive in their support (calls, letters, whatever) for the schools. Its like you could palpate the shift in attitude in backing the teachers. No longer did they need to asume how bad it was - a teacher was begging for a simple chair and it was being denied!
Every little bit certainly does help and makes a big difference. I am so proud and thankful of Okie teachers who are hanging in there for the kids through such bullshit. Great quality folks, they are! Heck, give a teacher a Nobel rather than he-that-shall-not-be-named…
** LHOD**, you will probably like seeing this, if you haven’t already. Its not NC, but KY, which went through very similar strikes and all a few months ago. There are a number of teachers, at least 5, who have secured a spot in election by winning the primary for their respective seats. It has begun very well, I do believe.
Does anyone know how ~many teachers (or those w/ pro-teacher stance) lost their primary? Not looking for actual numbers, but something like ‘most, none, few, or whatever’. Seems like it is a notable # that were won, but I do not know the overall extent of seats being challenged and all. (TIA)