Our Kids Can't Wait!
Guilford County Schools Board of Education
So far this school year, we have lost approximately 6% of 9,800 staff members - an increase even from last year at the peak of the pandemic. We are watching our colleagues leave this profession - and our county - every day. Our kids can’t wait for staff stability and highly qualified, experienced educators in their learning environment. Because our jobs have become less and less desirable as pay and working conditions have declined, it is clear that there are not new, trained educators coming to replace us. We have to do what we can to stop the loss of experienced educators before we pass a point of no return with staffing - and with ESSER funds, GCS has a rare chance to help staff hang on until we can win full school funding from the NCGA.
We are asking our Guilford County Board of Education to use less than 15% of our allotted $307 million in ESSER funds to provide a $4000 bonus to each Guilford County Schools employee.
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To:
Guilford County Schools Board of Education
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[Your Name]
We, the employees of Guilford County Schools, are essential to educating our next generation. We love our jobs, but for too long we have been treated as though our labor is a given. Underfunding our schools is a reckless and negligent act that impacts our livelihoods and our students’ education as highly qualified employees continue to leave in droves. Every coworker we lose to higher-paying, less stressful jobs is a blow to our children’s education.
We, the employees of Guilford County Schools, are on the frontlines of a crisis that is years in the making. With GCAE, we have consistently advocated for full funding for schools far beyond staff pay. But we know that a consistent, skilled school staff is an irreplaceable component of our students' success - and that staff loss is the most urgent threat to students’ education in GCS right now. With ESSER funds, our Board has a rare opportunity to shield employees from over a decade of cuts to pay and school resources.
We, the employees of Guilford County Schools, are calling on our Board of Education to do what the NC General Assembly refuses to do: value our labor. We, the 9,800, are who enable, protect, educate, and uplift our 73,000 students. We, the 9,800 human beings who make school happen every day - not the buildings, not the computers, not the tests - are Guilford County Schools.
GCS employees call on the Guilford County School Board to address the staffing crisis before it’s too late: Use less than 15% of our allotted $307 million in ESSER funds to provide a $4000 bonus to each Guilford County Schools employee.