TO THE EDITOR:
As a current high school mathematics teacher in North Carolina, I was happy to hear that our governor wants to give teachers a raise.
North Carolina teacher salary has been in the lower echelon for some time. Having one of the lowest average teacher salaries and having disbanded the Teaching Fellows Program, our state has become an embarrassment.
Now we have a new embarrassment, and its name is House Bill 2.
Like the notion that this bill is solely about keeping grown men away from little girls in a bathroom, McCrory is using this announcement as a distraction from the now legal discriminatory practices against people in the LGBT community. With this proposal coming during an election year, I have much reason to doubt the authenticity of the governor’s plan, especially when he has belittled academic disciplines outside of STEM fields in the past. I find it disgraceful that our state’s leader wants to increase teacher salary for political capital.
Governor, I always welcome a raise. However, it should be because you value the good work that my colleagues do and not to distract many enraged people in the state. You will have many talented people other than Bruce Springsteen refuse to come work in North Carolina if you do not fix this mess you enabled.
Garrett Pedersen
Class of ’15
