Wake County Officials - demand meaningful resources for safe and sustainable public schools!
Wake County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, our public schools faced the damaging impacts of long-term deprivation of the resources necessary to maintain safe, sustainable, and effective public schools. In order to ensure a complete recovery, please join us in calling on our local school board and county commission to demand that our legislators commit to voting for a budget that resources these critical elements necessary for our public school students, staff, and communities to thrive:
Equitable resources for all school districts
Supports for the mental health and physical health of students and communities
Sustainable wages while addressing pay inequity
Our school board has already shown a commitment to the following critical elements which are included in their legislative priorities and align with the heart of this petition:
Improving broadband infrastructure and connectivity and increasing flexibility in funding and funding parameters for purchasing technology devices;
Providing permanent funding for additional support personnel such as counselors, nurses, social workers, etc.;
Approving a competitive salary schedule that includes increase in pay for all employees; including a living wage for all non-certified and classified staff; and
Reinstating career status, advanced degree pay, and retirement benefits, including health coverage for employees that were employed on or after January 1, 2021.
We request our local officials take a step further and urge legislators to share their commitment on the above priorities as well as the other budget priorities identified in the petition.
Sponsored by
To:
Wake County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education
From:
[Your Name]
Wake County Public School System supporters urge each legislator representing Wake County, and each legislator in the North Carolina General Assembly, to vote for legislation that:
1 - Ensures equitable resources for all school districts:
a) Increases North Carolina’s per-student spending in order to more equitably support student learning throughout our state, including in rural and less wealthy districts, by enacting the reforms listed below; and
b) Approves a statewide K-12 school construction and renovation bond that provides Local Education Agencies with much needed funds; and
c) Reduces barriers to student learning by expanding funding for broadband, high speed internet access in North Carolina, with an emphasis on rural and lower-wealth communities and communities of color lacking access; and
d) Freezes funding for the NC private school voucher program at current levels until the policy objectives named above have been achieved, and requires any private school accepting vouchers to meet the same academic, financial, and transparency standards as are other institutions receiving public funds.
2 -Supports the mental health and physical health of students and communities:
a) Expands funding for districts to hire more school nurses, counselors, social workers, psychologists, and instructional assistants supporting the academic, social, and emotional well-being of students and funding the appropriate staff to fully and effectively implement programs statewide such as WCPSS’ Behavioral Health Assessment Teams; and
b) Restores state health care benefits for school workers who retire after a lifetime of service to our students, including individuals hired during and after January of 2021.
3 - Provides sustainable wages and addresses pay inequity:
a) Provides education support professionals with a living wage by guaranteeing a $15/hour minimum base pay for all NC school workers and adjusts the relevant pay scale accordingly to avoid wage compression; and
b) Reforms the salary scale to provide a 5% salary increase and subsequent cost of living adjustments for active and retired educators and to restore longevity and advanced degree pay to improve educator recruitment and retention of experienced educators.