Some Wake County school board members and leaders of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition will be out backing teachers during Monday’s teacher walk-in events across the school district and the state.
School board members Susan Evans and Jim Martin are among the elected officials who are scheduled to attend after-school walk-in events. Public Schools First NC and the N.C. Justice Center are holding a press conference at noon in connection with the walk-in events.
Organize 2020’s website lists several teacher walk-in events in Wake County.
Teachers from Middle Creek elementary and high schools and West Lake elementary and middle schools will march from the high school to the middle school. Following the march, there will be a town hall meeting with Martin listed as one of the guests.
Teachers from Holly Ridge elementary and middle schools, Holly Grove elementary and middle schools and Holly Springs High School will march from the Holly Grove campus to the high school. Following the march, Evans is scheduled to be one of the people who will be participate in a town hall.
As for the noon press conference at the State Capitol, organizers say they will be “joining the walk-in by speaking out in a show of support and gratitude for North Carolina’s 95,000 public school teachers. We’ll also be sharing important new polling information.”
Among the speakers at the press conference will be Yevonne Brannon, the chairwoman of Great Schools in Wake who helped form Public Schools First. The Facebook page for the event lists as potential attendees people who were arrested at Moral Monday protests and several GSIW members.
Here’s the press release for the event:
MEDIA ADVISORY: Speak Out for North Carolina’s Teachers Press Conference
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Who: Public Schools First NC and the NC Justice Center, along with parent and teacher representatives
What: We’re joining the walk-in by speaking out in a show of support and gratitude for North Carolina’s 95,000 public school teachers. We’ll also be sharing important new polling information.
Where: NC State Capitol (south side of grounds), One East Edenton Street, Raleigh
When: Monday, November 4, 2013, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
RALEIGH (October 31, 2013) — This year, North Carolina’s public school teachers are being asked to do more with even less than before. The 2013-15 biennial budget eliminates 9,306 education positions. Class sizes are growing while support is decreasing. The budget allocation for textbooks, technology, and classroom supplies is inadequate to give teachers the resources necessary to provide students with the education they deserve.
For all of their hard work, teachers received only one negligible raise in the past five years and now, many will not receive salary increases for advanced degrees. Worst of all, teachers will lose career status (protection from retaliatory or arbitrary firings) and job security (all teachers will be placed on temporary, year-to-year contracts).
Join Yevonne Brannon (Public Schools First NC), Matt Ellinwood (Education Law Project, NC Justice Center), teachers Vivian Connell and Stacy Eleczko, and parent Ilina Ewen who will speak out on behalf of teachers who work tirelessly to ensure that our children are successful—in school and in life. All speakers will be available to talk with the media at the end of the conference.
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Public Schools First NC is a group of citizens, parents, teachers, businesses and organizations joining together to advocate for a first-rate public education system for all North Carolinians. To learn more or to join our organization, please visit: publicschoolsfirstnc.org
The North Carolina Justice Center is a voice for economic, social and political justice. As a leading progressive research and advocacy organization, the Justice Center’s mission is to eliminate poverty in North Carolina by ensuring that every household in the state has access to the resources, services and fair treatment it needs to achieve economic security.