Political war isn't making our schools better

Published February 5, 2014

Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, February 5, 2014.

North Carolina's teacher-tenure rules were weak. They offered some protection to teachers, but couldn't deflect basic issues like incompetence, immorality and insubordination.

Tenure nevertheless became a cause celebre for this state's teachers and lawmakers, especially the Republican majority. A new law dismantles the tenure system over five years, replacing it with employment contracts that make it easier to dismiss teachers.

The teachers are pushing back hard. One leader of the North Carolina Association of Educators called the new law "divisive and demoralizing." It is. Following the law, school boards are preparing to offer four-year contracts with raises to the top-rated 25 percent of their teachers.

The teachers association is urging a boycott of the new system, calling on teachers to refuse the contracts when they are offered. Here in Cumberland County, about 1,200 teachers and support staff are eligible for the contracts. The county educators' association is urging them to turn down them down. County association president Joseph Sorce says, "Teachers need due-process rights to protect them from being unjustly fired. I hate to tell people to not accept money, but what you are giving up for the money is really not worth it."

We wish this battle was all about producing better schools, but unfortunately, it's smothered in politics. The N.C. Association of Educators isn't technically a union: It can't engage in collective bargaining for its members. But in every other way, including lobbying and other political activities, that's exactly what it is. And the group has traditionally aligned itself with Democrats.

When the GOP took over the legislature, members quickly armed for retribution, trying to ban payroll deduction of association dues and successfully killing tenure.

What we don't see in this war is a strengthening of public education in North Carolina. With teacher salaries here among the lowest in the nation and a weak tenure shield gone, it's not hard to see why teachers perceive a legislative jihad. This leaves us wondering how all this acrimony is improving our schools.

There should be no refuge in public education for incompetent teachers, but there should be protection against capricious, unjust or political firing. Lawmakers and teachers should be able to work together to make that happen.