New Hanover and Brunswick County Schools close tomorrow for the North Carolina Association of Educators’ Day of Action. Pender County Schools remain open – despite closing last year. As WHQR reports, it’s the second year the two counties have closed schools while staff rally at the General Assembly.
Teachers around the state are descending on Raleigh to convince the General Assembly of certain legislative priorities. Among these are increasing per-pupil funding; growing the number of health-care workers such as school nurses, counselors, social workers, and school psychologists; and raising teachers’ salaries to the national average in three years.
But does New Hanover County Superintendent Tim Markley think there's been progress since last year?
"I think you've seen some improvements in terms of pay, but it tends to be at the lower end of the scale. I think veteran teachers still haven't gotten the pay that a lot of the folks at the other end have gotten. There are still issues around just simply the dollars being allocated to education. So there's been some progress, but there's definitely room for more work."
While the Superintendent says he agrees it’s an important day for the 480-some staffers clad in Red For Ed, he’s concerned about missing instructional time. New Hanover and Brunswick County students were absent for nearly three weeks for Hurricane Florence.
Superintendent Markley says it’s likely the rally day won’t be made up.