Oh, so you want to get paid more?

The infamous question that all of us as teachers are receiving during the march today in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Let me just start by saying that sure, we all would love to be paid as anyone else with a qualified license and four year degree; however, today the march is for so much more.

So much more..as in funding being stripped from schools…with the new tax cut this year that equals 4.4 billion dollars GONE. We as educators get turned down regularly for wanting resources or updated technology to benefit the needs of students, because our schools cannot fund desired programs, resources, or devices. We are required to teach with rigor and 21st century skills; however, classrooms are only allotted a certain number of devices that are often less than needed to complete the standards being asked of us.

Schools should not have to rely so heavily on PTA and fundraisers for books, resources, technology, and programs. North Carolina has one of the lowest student per capita spendings; meaning that there is less funding per student compared to other states. The funding for testing needs to be stripped, because we as educators and our students are more than a number, coded color, or letter. Our teaching evaluations should be based on the impact that we have on our students, not the scores that take a day to assess and grade.

I am a lower grade level teacher; therefore, we work with students who come in at the beginning of the year knowing zero letters, numbers, or the concept of a sentence. These students leave us reading, writing, adding, subtracting, speaking in complete sentences, independently completing tasks; however, these aspects are still not good enough due to a score not being classified as proficient.

You want differentiation, then give us resources and assistants for interventions. We are one person. We have 22+ little and big bodies who require decoding, comprehension, analyzing, inferring, number concept, vocabulary, socializing, emotional support, team building. Our schools are lacking in support, funding, supplies, resources because we as teachers are being shamed for asking for assistance.

Students with Special Needs/ Adapted Classrooms

This is my personal opinion, but our classrooms designed for students who have special needs are pathetic. These are students who require intense support to overcome obstacles that many of us cannot fathom; however, these classrooms more than often are receiving outdated furniture, supplies, decrease in room size, and inadequate resources. The year is 2018 and people have collected more than enough data to be able to provide these classrooms with sufficient and necessary resources. I feel like these students and teachers are being shafted and ignored simply due to avoidance and denial.

Now back to the pay. Sure, the income for a beginning teacher is reasonable being $35,000; however, in ten years  of teaching I will be making maybe $42,000 depending on the county that I teach in. Out of all of my non-teacher friends with four year degrees, I currently am the only one making below $45,000 and will be the only one still making below $45,000 after ten years in a profession and living in a community where a decent home starts at 250,000. With inflation, teachers are making around 10% less than they were ten years ago, even though the GOP states that North Carolina has one of the highest pay increases this past year.

During my first year of teaching, I thankfully had the support of my mother and summer funds to supply, decorate, and provide essentials for my classroom. First year teachers are leaving college and entering a profession where their paychecks are being used to fund and supply the needs of their students and classroom. Our state does not respect longevity of teachers, masters degrees, as well as the decrease in benefits.

We as teachers march and wear red for our students. We advocate so that we can continue to strengthen the future and dreams of our students. We instill strength, confidence, compassion, independence, so that our students learn to better themselves, their families, their friends, and the community surrounding them.

We do it for the kids, ya’ll.

Shout-out to our amazing teachers for the photos and to Teacher, Elizabeth Frost for editing this post.