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School Boards and advocates urge legislature to invest in public schools

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In Wilkes County, August 2024. Mebane Rash/EdNC

Boards of Education and advocates across North Carolina are using different strategies to urge the legislature to prioritize public schools.

School boards from eight districts are calling on lawmakers to make meaningful investments in teacher pay and increase funding for public schools, according to a press release by the Office of the Governor, including:

Click on the links above to read the resolutions.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) Board of Education and the Chatham County Schools Board of Education sent letters to legislative leaders requesting a 5% salary increase for teachers.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools asks General Assembly for at least 5% teacher raises

The CMS Board is urging people to sign this petition, titled “North Carolina Stop the Teacher Pay Cut.”

These requests are in addition to the bipartisan calls last year from education leaders in more than 35 school districts for the General Assembly to invest in public schools, says the press release.

The North Carolina School Boards Association has launched a campaign “to build support for public schools as a bedrock benefit for every North Carolinian.”

The campaign — “Public Education Does the Public Good” — says supporting public schools is a nonpartisan priority.

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“Thriving public schools uplift society as a whole, no matter what type of education fits your family’s needs,” Jennifer Thompson, president NCSBA’s Board of Directors, said in a press release. “Public education was a cornerstone of the foundation of America for many reasons. Everyone benefits from a strong public school system. We all need to support our public schools.”

Their campaign includes a new publiceducationmatters.org website, social media, videos, and billboards across North Carolina.

Last month, the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) also launched a campaign, “We Love Public Schools.”

The campaign includes local visits from NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly to discuss the importance of public schools and why public support matters.

“Despite all the good work happening in our public schools, they are at risk of falling behind,” the campaign website says. “From the mountains to the coast, North Carolinians love their public schools and only together can we strengthen our public schools for the next generation and generations to come. Nothing could be more basic for the future health of our state. We ♥ Public Schools!”

Higher Ed Works has rebranded as Public Ed Works. “Public Ed Works supports a strong, well-funded public education system from Pre-K through college that will enable North Carolina to increase postsecondary attainment,” says its website. It is investing in billboards across the state supporting teacher pay increases.

And the Freedom Hill Coalition — 15 organizations working to “make sure that all children in North Carolina are receiving the high-quality education that they deserve” — just launched its “REPRESENT” campaign last week.

Freedom Hill Coalition launches its ‘Represent!’ campaign

In November 2023, the Public School Forum of North Carolina held a summit, convening executives from more than 75 businesses from across the state to “educate and motivate” business leaders to stand up for the future of public education. The organization continues to work with business leaders and leaders of public schools to equip them to support public education.

Gov. Cooper declared 2024 as the Year of Public Schools and has been visiting public schools and early childhood education programs across the state calling for investments in K-12 education, early childhood education, and teacher pay.

You can see everywhere he has been in our map tracking his travels.

Where’s Cooper?

In other states, advocates have been able to use cross-partisan strategies to ensure that with the expansion of school choice legislatures are also making investments in public schools.

Red state? Blue state? This ‘cross-partisan’ approach offers a way to think about advocacy in 2024 and beyond

All of this comes at a time when the state has money and yet the legislature adjourned without updating the budget passed in 2023.

When the General Assembly adjourned in June 2024, its adjournment resolution outlined future meeting dates and what could be discussed during each session. According to that resolution, the General Assembly cannot discuss budget adjustments until Nov. 19-22.