Disclaimer: The following viewpoint is that of the author, Ken Loyd, and is not intended to represent the varying views among the membership of either NCAE (North Carolina Association of Educators) or NCRSP (North Carolina Retired School Personnel).
If this headline seems inflammatory, it seems mild in comparison to the heavy-handed tactics North Carolina's legislative leaders pushed through earlier this week. Leader Thom Tillis as much as admitted that the action to prohibit payroll deduction for professional educator dues was "to teach them a lesson," and that "it's just a taste of what's to come."
That's hardly the morale booster an embattled and highly stressed cadre of teachers and other educators need to spur them on to greater heights. If this sort of intimidation and bullying is not meant to force teachers to keep their ideas to themselves, it may be even more sinister. Those seeking to punish NCAE, PENC, and NCRSP include those who have pushed strongly for private school vouchers, unlimited charter schools, and across-the-board cuts for public schools. The gains of three decades, during which North Carolina students have climbed from near the bottom of the nation to average or above, are in danger of being lost. These gains have been in every area, from reduced dropout rate to nationally recognized gains on NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) and the greatest gains on SAT scores in the nation.
Click HERE to read an excellent summary of today's action by NCAE to challenge the legislative measure. WRAL details many of the constitutional questions that must be considered. One thing is certain: committed association members have other options for paying their dues. But this should be a wakeup call to the vast numbers of non-members who have been asked for years, "Who is YOUR advocate in Raleigh?" Never has that question been more pertinent nor the answer more frightening. If your very employer-- the state legislature-- casts you as a villain; if the body that controls your salary, your retirement, and your health care sees you as an adversary, it is past time to take a stand. For yourself, for your profession, and for the future of our great state.
