Education

State law empowers school boards to establish policies to ensure adherence to the code of ethics for North Carolina educators, which requires that teachers "not proselytize for personal viewpoints that are outside the scope of professional practice." School boards have broad authority to make curriculum decisions, select instructional materials, and create community media advisory committees tasked with addressing concerns about the appropriateness of textbooks and other resources.

North Carolina public schools will receive over $6 billion in funding to address the academic, emotional, and social impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Such levels of funding present high-risk and high-opportunity options for schools. Schools can ensure these funds are well spent by developing plans that are transparent, are strategic, discuss relevant trade-offs, encourage flexibility, and understand the implications of their choices.

Under the growing threat of a coronavirus combined with the government-imposed economic shutdown, Congress approved $6 billion in Covid-19 relief funds for K-12 public schools in North Carolina. A recovering economy has taken the worst-case scenarios off the table and resulted in more aid for K-12 schools than at any time in recent history. These dollars should be returned to taxpayers; otherwise, state leaders should take proper steps to ensure they are spent wisely and accomplish intended purposes.

Overall, North Carolina teacher pay has improved despite periods of no or moderate pay increases. North Carolina ranks 34th nationally and 2nd in the Southeast in teacher pay. The increase in teacher benefits — specifically the rising cost of retirement benefits — is the biggest reason for the escalating costs of teacher compensation.

Academic transparency is one way to guarantee that teachers adhere to the Code of Ethics for North Carolina Educators, which requires that they do not “proselytize for personal viewpoints that are outside the scope of professional practice.” Teachers have an ethical obligation to separate their personal views from their professional responsibilities, particularly when discussing issues as contentious as the conflict in the Middle East.

Because teachers have the option of declining summer employment, summer learning programs designed to address learning loss may be short-staffed. Reasons for opting out of the summer learning programs vary, but they fall into three categories: political, financial, and psychological.

For 2020-21, North Carolina’s average teacher salary is $54,392, which is ranked 34th in the nation according to the National Education Association. The statewide average salary increased by around 21 percent between 2014 and 2021. The NC Association of Educators insists that the calculation of the average is flawed.

Learning Loss Education Savings Accounts can remedy the damaging impacts of students being out of the classroom and empower parents to find the educational option that best fits their child’s needs. The American Rescue Plan Act expands the child tax credit to $3,000 or $3,600, depending on the age of the child, and this change can greatly aid the ability of parents to afford private school.

Support for school choice is strong nationally and resulted in new programs and expansions in many states. North Carolina legislation to expand choice programs and grant a tax credit to homeschooling families, if approved, would increase the amount of the assistance as well as the number of people using school choice programs.

The American Rescue Plan Act's $130 billion for K-12 education included $3.6 billion for North Carolina public schools, but strangely for an emergency, only 5 percent of that education spending will be spent this year. It's clear that this massive spending is about rewarding teachers’ unions and other constituencies that helped both Joe Biden and Roy Cooper get elected.