Some Wake County middle school teachers have received the following email:

To: MartinMS Staff Group@STAFF
From: Jennifer Bryant/MartinMS/WCPSS
Date: 04/17/2014 01:53PM
Subject: Take Action

Teachers,

I am writing this to make a request of you that is for the benefit of all of us who are educators.  There is a county commissioner who has children at Martin.  Her name is Caroline Sullivan. She has asked for assistance from us that she and other commissioners believe will make an impact on our pay.

As we all know, our salary and supplement has not been increased in quite a while.   What she would like from us are narratives about the impact that our low pay has had on our lives.  In other words, she wants to have letters and emails to prove to other commissioners that many of us have to work second jobs to supplement our income, or leave the state and get higher pay, or even leave Wake County to live in a smaller county that doesn’t necessarily increase our pay, but offers a lower cost of living.  Ms. Sullivan wants to hear the stories of how talented educators can’t afford to teach and that some of us struggle financially. For example, at Cary High School, there are two teachers who are considering moving to Virginia because they could earn $40,000 more a year.  She wants to know about those of us who tutor, take summer jobs, or work at other part time jobs throughout the school year because we can’t afford not to.   She wants to know about those who have left because they can make more money at a job that doesn’t require a college degree and is less stressful.  The letters/emails do not need to be angry or critical of politicians or a political party, but can be matter-of-fact.  The county commissioners have had ONE (yes, ONE) teacher come to their meetings to explain what is happening and will happen if the situation doesn’t improve.  She wants commissioners and the public to realize how many teaching jobs are at stake, and what we stand to lose.  Her goal is to present 200 narratives/letters to let the commissioners see for themselves how many people are affected.

This is the time to speak up.  We cannot stand idly by while others who do not care about education are making decisions that affect our profession and WCPSS.  The superintendent has said that we need to be vocal and is supportive of this effort.   (Emphasis added)

If I haven’t convinced you to speak up, read this story:  At a commissioners’ meeting, one representative said that not increasing teacher pay is not a big deal because most teachers are women who are married to men who make plenty of money in the private sector. (!) Yes, this is what this representative believes.    This is the perception.  We must change this.

Please consider sending an email to her or to me.  Her email is [email protected] and my home email is [email protected].  Spread the word to all of your friends in education.  We MUST take action!!

Jennifer

Sullivan represents District 4, which includes western Raleigh and Cary.