Leadership from the governor’s office is overdue

Gov. McCrory — North Carolinians expected more when they elected you into office.

The elimination of the N.C. Teaching Fellows Program is another example of how the North Carolina that was once committed to higher education and walking the middle road is quickly disappearing.

For 25 years, N.C. Teaching Fellows has provided a great service for multiple generations of North Carolinians.

In exchange for their education, about 500 teaching fellows each year agree to teach for four years in N.C. Many of these teaching fellows — around 75 percent — taught longer than their mandatory four years.

Teaching fellows provided a boon for rural school systems that otherwise would not have been able to attract as many qualified and dedicated teachers.

High school students who wanted to become teachers, but who couldn’t have afforded to pay for their education, now fill school systems across the state.

The teaching fellows program indicated to the rest of the country that N.C. was an innovator for its steadfast commitment to education.

Now, there is the chance that North Carolina will force highly qualified and dedicated teachers to find employment elsewhere.

Compounding the elimination of the teaching fellows program is the abolishment of K-12 teacher tenure , and the end to bonuses for teachers with master’s degrees.

The UNC-CH School of Education estimates that enrollment has dropped about 40 percent as a direct result of these new measures.

This is in addition to half a billion dollars in budget cuts for the UNC system since 2011.

Granted, a budget deficit requires tough decisions to be made. However, short-term solutions, especially ones that come at the expense of the children and youth of N.C., who are the very future of this state, are egregious.

The ramifications for these decisions will be felt immediately, but their true impact may take years for state residents to fully comprehend the damage, and at that point it will be too late.

Currently, N.C. ranks as one of the nation’s lowest for per-capita spending on public schools and teacher pay.

The changes that the Republican-controlled General Assembly and McCrory are enacting will only exacerbate the educational problems that plague the state.

Sadly, McCrory has overseen the abolishment of the Racial Justice Act, the criticism of liberal arts education and one of the strictest voter ID laws in the country that could prevent many North Carolinians from casting their ballots. The time has come for McCrory to become the leader N.C. deserves.

The citizens of this state need a governor who is willing to fight for them and to stand up for what is right — not to kowtow to party leadership in Raleigh because it’s convenient.

Gov. McCrory, listen to the people of N.C. when they air their grievances, instead of mocking them with cookies.

You are letting down the residents of North Carolina.

You are also letting yourself down by underachieving as governor.

As leader of our state, it is time for you to be the likable and engaging person that the people of N.C. thought — or would have liked to believe — they elected.

We invite you, Gov. McCrory, to visit classrooms across the state and to see the work that teaching fellows do every day.

Talk to them about how cuts from this program will prevent students from reaching their full potential, and how the fact that they, and teachers, are undervalued in this state will cause them to find employment elsewhere.

The time has come for you to visit UNC-CH, along with some of the other UNC-system schools, to meet with students and to realize that a liberal arts education can empower a student to succeed in whatever field he or she wants to.

It is time for you to inspire the people of North Carolina to help foster a sense of pride for our state instead of embarrassment.