ICYMI: Josh Stein Pens Op-ed For Teacher Appreciation Week Highlighting Investments To Recruit & Retain More NC Educators

“As we think about how to truly support our teachers, saying ‘thank you’ is only the first step.”  

To kick off Teacher Appreciation Week, Attorney General and Democratic nominee for Governor Josh Stein penned an op-ed for Cardinal & Pine celebrating the teachers who shaped his life and calling for investments that truly demonstrate appreciation for teachers.

To help address growing teacher vacancies across North Carolina and recruit and retain more teachers, Stein advocates for raising teacher pay, hiring more support staff, and reinstating masters pay to retain experienced teachers. Stein also proposes a new student teacher stipend to encourage more North Carolinians to pursue teaching and help student teachers afford the cost of teacher training.

Read an excerpt from the op-ed below: 

Cardinal & Pine: During Teacher Appreciation Week, saying “thank you” is only the first step

• Every year, Teacher Appreciation Week gives us the opportunity to share our gratitude for the people who shape the next generation. But as we think about how to truly support our teachers, saying “thank you” is only the first step. 

• We’ve got to put our money where our mouth is. Our state ranks 46th in the country for beginning teacher pay. All four of our neighboring states – Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia – pay beginning teachers more than we do. It’s no wonder that we started the last school year with 3500 teacher vacancies in our state. Tens of thousands of students showed up to a series of substitute teachers day after day, which is far from ideal for their learning.

• We must do better by our students, which means doing better by our teachers.

• And pay isn’t the only reason our teachers are leaving – we don’t give them the respect they deserve. My opponent in the governor’s campaign called teachers “wicked people” and “demons.”  He wants to defund public schools and has even suggested getting rid of science and social studies in elementary schools. He doesn’t value teachers’ expertise, their care for our kids, or the hard work they do to prepare students for the future.

• I’ve spent the last year traveling across the state, and in town after town I hear the same message from teachers. They want to stay in the classroom. They want to keep educating the leaders of tomorrow. And families want to keep their teachers. But without pay and without respect, we’re making our teachers’ choices even harder. 

• So this Teacher Appreciation Week, let’s recommit ourselves to helping our teachers not just stay in the profession, but thrive. As Governor, I am determined to raise teacher pay. We all want our kids to walk into schools that are fully staffed with the school counselors, psychologists, and custodians they need, so that our teachers can focus on teaching. We can better support our student teachers so that they are attracted to get to the classroom in the first place. And the very foundation: we must fully fund our public schools so that our teachers have the resources they need to succeed.
  
• Our schools’ future dictates our children’s future, and their future dictates our state’s future. Investing in our teachers will reap untold dividends.
  
• Please join me in standing up for our teachers and showing them, not just with our words but also with our actions, that we value them. We appreciate them. We want them to stay. We want them to thrive.