Column: Teachers’ issues go beyond pay

When it comes to K-12 education in North Carolina, the first thing that most likely comes to mind is how poor the state has become for teachers and with good reason.

North Carolina is ranked as the one of the worst states for instructors because of low salaries and limited chances for income growth, which has resulted in fears of teachers leaving the state to find positions with higher salaries.

With this information follows blame, and no one is easier to blame right now than the Republican-led General Assembly. And as a result, the go-to solution from many appears to demand Republicans improve salaries or face being replaced with Democrats. But while pay raises are important, a larger issue is being ignored by many.

Teachers often deal with a lack of communication from both state and local governments, which can be especially problematic as instructors are forced to deal with changes lacking their input, creating difficulties in organizing classes.

One prominent example is the apparent inevitable move away from the Common Core standards. The initiative was fully implemented prior to the 2012-13 school year in an attempt to unify education goals with other states.

While Common Core is not a federal program, its usage opened the door for the federal government to base their funding on whether or not state schools kept up with the standards. This was primarily checked through a plethora of high stakes tests.

This connection raised concerns and is one of the reasons current legislators want to move away from the initiative.

Both actions placed massive amounts of stress on teachers, who had little influence on the standards themselves, as questions rose on the best methods to teach and if their performance was adequate.

There are also issues caused by local school systems. Shannon Winchester, a former history teacher of mine at Weddington High School, said changes are often pushed by local leaders as a result of funding changes, which may be difficult to handle and organize classes around, especially in more diverse institutions.

However, Winchester said conversations between teachers and government leaders do happen, making note of outreach conducted by Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union. Yet that does not mean all legislators are taking similar actions.

Although it is reasonable to be disappointed with current teacher salary rates, education is larger than just incomes. It is nice to know some legislators have held conversations on education, but more discussions need to be conducted to assure teachers have a voice in what is implemented in the classroom.

Holding conversations would take a tremendous amount of resources to organize, and might not solve problems caused by the federal government. However, it would be an effort dedicated to making our education system stronger and our teachers happier.