RALEIGH
Many of North Carolina's public-school teachers are not happy.
The state is cutting their paychecks -- a teacher with seven years of experience could be out as much as $250 before the end of the school year. They've heard class sizes could be increasing, that schools won't be able to replace teachers who retire and that more pay cuts could be coming next year.
Yesterday, about 1,500 educators -- including a group of about 50 from Forsyth County -- converged on the state capital to rally and let their displeasure be heard. They took to the streets, circling Gov. Bev Perdue's mansion in SUVs and sedans, honking their horns and waving signs printed with slogans such as "How much is education worth?" and "Save our Schools."
The Forsyth County teachers who protested yesterday said they are worried about their paychecks, but that they are also worried about their students.
"What incentives do we have anymore to come into education," said Tracey Hardin, a third-grade teacher at Konnoak Elementary School. She pointed to the sign she carried -- "Expect more, pay less."
The educators -- mostly teachers and teachers' assistants -- gathered about 11:30 outside the North Carolina Association of Educators offices in Raleigh, not far from where state legislators discuss the salaries paid to educators and other state employees. The association is a union that represents teachers and other educators from around the state.
"It was important to mobilize because this is just one small cut in a series of potentially devastating cuts," said Tripp Jeffers, the president of the association in Forsyth County, which has about 3,220 members. "It's in the worst of times that you have to truly identify your values … and education has to be first."
Jeffers said he and other educators understand that the economy has caused problems for everyone. And, he said, the pay cut this school year is better than layoffs. The pay cut amounts to 0.5 percent of a person's annual salary and affects all state employees, not just teachers.
Jeffers said he is concerned that this cut -- which comes in the form of a 10-hour furlough -- might lead to more cuts next year.
"We have to stand up and say, ‘Yes, we're willing to sacrifice,'" he said. "‘But enough is enough.'"
Jeffers said if the state forced teachers to take more than five furlough days next school year, the school year would have to be shortened. And that, he said, would mean fewer classroom days for North Carolina's children.
The Forsyth County teachers who went to the protest yesterday say that is unacceptable.
"It gets to the point where they're hurting our children," said Denise McCoy, Konnoak Elementary School's home-school adviser. "And that's why we're all in it -- for the children."
■ Laura Graff can be reached at 727-7279 or at lgraff@wsjournal.com.
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