WNC for Public Education hosting a public forum

From the press release:

WNC for Public Education Hosting a Forum on
September 17th at 6pm at West Henderson High School

It’s September 10th and everyone knows that the North Carolina General Assembly as yet to pass a budget. In the meantime, North Carolina has achieved the distinction of ranking 42nd in the U.S. in both education dollars spent per student and 47th in average teacher salaries.

A non-partisan homegrown parent led coalition called “WNC for Public Education” has been meeting with government officials advocating for sufficient funds and a quality education for every child. Last year before the election, they attracted a crowd of approximately 1,000 people to their forum held at T.C. Roberson High School. The Asheville Citizen Times gave them an “A” on their report card for their advocacy efforts in trying “to cut through polarizing politics and foster discussion on issues such as student testing, school funding and teacher pay”.

This year WNC for Public Education is hosting another forum on Thursday, September 17th at 6:00 p.m. in the West Henderson High School auditorium to persuade all lawmakers to properly support public education, but especially the North Carolina General Assembly. Right now there is the potential for roughly 8,500 Teacher Assistant positions to be eliminated, for teacher’s pay increases to be minimal, and textbook funding to continue to be lower than pre-recession levels to name just a few issues.

This forum will feature student, parent and teacher speakers discussing how current legislation is impacting our schools and children. The organization has invited all North Carolina state and local elected officials, school boards, and surrounding western county commissioners. It is unlikely that the state legislators will be able to attend if a budget has not been passed yet, but that is not stopping WNC for Public Education from having their event to promote awareness among the community.

“Our schools need time to hire the number of teachers needed to fill positions and to order classroom materials in advance so that they’ll be available on the first day of school,” says WNC for Public Education Advocacy Co-Chair and parent, Marilyn Kincaid. “As it is currently, it’s like planning your family’s annual budget with no idea what your salary will actually be – and knowing that whatever you end up with it won’t be enough.”

“Parents and teachers have had to raise more and more money each year for basic materials and many families cannot afford it,” says Mills River Elementary Rugby Middle School parent and past Mills River School PTO president, Jared Bellmund. “PTOs and PTAs should be fundraising to supplement the education experience, not for text books and supplies. We are very thankful for the strong financial support from our local businesses for helping Henderson County schools fill the needs that are created by the lack of funding.”

“Parents are also very passionate about minimizing standardized testing and excessive assessments in order to ensure our children are not stressed out at such a young age and so there is more time for actual teaching. Additionally, we are concerned about more teachers leaving for a more competitive salaries across state lines or for a more lucrative profession all together. It is a shame that North Carolina has lost some exceptional teachers in recent years,” says Asheville City Schools parent Julie Porter- Shirley.

“We believe that the Teacher Assistants in our elementary schools are critical to our students’ overall success and well-being. Who will drive the buses, administer medication or insulin for our children in need since we no longer have a full time nurse, who will help handle smaller groups for teaching struggling students how to read, who will continue the lesson if there is a behavior problem, and the list goes on,” says Henderson County parent of three students, Tina Corn.

WNC for Public Education Co-President and parent, Amy Wamsley reiterates that, “we are a nonpartisan and our members are made up of multiple political affiliations, but we all share a common goal. We hope that we draw awareness and that people will voice their opinions to elected officials. In the meantime, we will continue our conversations with our lawmakers and community members to find solutions that better support North Carolina’s public education system.