We asked NC teachers about striking for better pay. They responded. And they’re mad.

To North Carolina’s teachers, there appears to be little debate about the need to strike for better pay.

The Editorial Board debated that possibility Sunday with dueling perspectives from N.C. Opinion Editor Peter St. Onge and Associate Editor Ned Barnett. The debate was prompted by reports that the North Carolina Association of Educators is planning on surveying teachers about their willingness to walk out if the legislature doesn’t meet its demand of a 5 percent raise and other benefits. Teacher pay in North Carolina continues to lag behind the national average.

Barnett said the time is now for teachers to take such action to get the attention of N.C. Republicans. St. Onge said that while teachers deserve more money, a strike would risk the political momentum they currently have.

Educators, and others, responded. They overwhelmingly agree with Barnett. And they’re mad.

“I must firmly side with Ned Barnett,” said Bobby L. Patchett III, who called St. Onge’s reasoning “mealy mouthed.” Why? “The time to strike is now. Until the average parent in NC suffers like teachers, all our pleadings and one-day rallies in Raleigh fall on deaf ears from the public and legislature.”

Said Laura Sanford of New Hanover County Public Schools: “I believe it is imperative that we strike. With 23 years experience and a master’s degree, I have been making the same amount of money for years ... and will continue to make the same amount. NC Republicans are against veteran teachers, and against public school in general. I commend Governor Cooper for vetoing the pathetic budget repubs put forth and I stand with him. It is past time for educators to act. We need to strike and we need to do it as soon as possible and for as long as it takes.”

A teacher from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools explained the source of the frustration. “I’m in my 13th year as an educator with CMS,” she said. “The budget impasse has gone on for well over 200 days. NC teachers have had walk-ins, petitions, written our representatives, among other things. My school has participated in all of these things. Nothing has changed. The only way we will be taken seriously is if we make a statement that can’t be ignored by anyone.”

Todd Morman, a Raleigh writer and former high school teacher, agreed. “St. Onge’s position against a teacher strike is a classic center-right reaction to talk of ramping up workers’ power and is deeply inappropriate for this moment,” he said. “It glosses over the gains won in the last two years by striking teachers in Arizona, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky, all states, like NC, dominated by Republicans in both legislative houses. Every one of those strikes won significant raises for teachers.”

The only hesitation about striking came from those not currently in the classroom. “Teachers need to have a living wage,” said Sarah Goad, a retired teacher in Mecklenburg County. “But you are correct that most people in NC are anti-union, and it is against the law for teachers to strike. It would not be a good example for students to see their teachers breaking the law even if it was for a good cause.”

Teachers appear to disagree. If this small sample size tells us anything, it’s that the passion from last year’s “Day of Action” teacher rally in Raleigh remains strong. Educators are exasperated and unimpressed with the incremental raises Republicans have offered in recent years. We agree, and Republicans have perhaps one more chance to address that anger when the legislative session begins in April. Are they listening?

This story was originally published January 27, 2020 at 11:23 AM.