Friends,
As a public school parent, I am in school buildings often, but earlier this month, I had the opportunity to view our local public schools through a different lens.
I participated in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools’ first Principal for a Day program, along with ZSR Program Officer Ricky Hurtado. I shadowed Principal Katie McGregor at Jefferson Elementary School, and Ricky shadowed Principal Jessica Gillespie Johnson at Jefferson Middle School.
What we saw made it clear that our public schools are doing amazing work to prepare our children to live, work and lead in North Carolina.
I asked every teacher I met what they’d change about public education in our state. Overwhelmingly, they mentioned: increase teacher pay, trust teachers to do their job, invest in universal pre-K and reduce the emphasis on testing.
These changes would make our public schools stronger, which benefits all North Carolinians. But to make them happen, our government must ensure our public schools and teachers get the resources they need. And right now, North Carolinians are suffering a decades-long campaign to disinvest from our public schools – most recently by diverting taxpayer money to fund private school vouchers for wealthy families.
Our state now ranks 48th in the country in per-student spending and 38th in teacher pay. That’s inexcusable.
ZSR has long funded and championed efforts to advance public education in North Carolina, and Ricky’s and my experience as Principals for a Day only reiterated to us why these investments matter.
We’ll continue to support our local public schools because we believe that all kids in NC deserve access to an excellent education.
All For NC,
