Speaking of teacher pay, it’s worth noting that North Carolina taxpayers are picking up a $6.7 million tab for the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching. This while state agencies look to trim their budgets (and prepare for potential layoffs) in expectation of a shortfall in the billions.
The NCAT?s purpose is to offer seminars that ?strengthen teachers? classroom expertise by exposing them to new ideas and activities they can use with their students.?
Teachers who qualify have an all expense paid trip (including seminar materials, travel, lodging, meals, and substitute teacher costs) to the campus located near Western Carolina University. (Another is planned for Ocracoke.)
The NCAT offers dozens of seminars, one of them titled ?Sea Level Rise: The Impact of Climate Change on the Outer Banks.? The center paid $4.3 million in salary and benefits to its almost 100 part-time or full-time staff members for 2008-09. The center has seminars running throughout the year.
Why does this strike me as nothing more than a taxpayer-funded resort? Don’t get me wrong … teachers should be fairly compensated for their work, but during lean times (and even not-so-lean), how is this appropriate?
