Answer to the NC teacher shortage is not to hire unlicensed teachers

Teacher shortage

Regarding “Noncertified teachers could ease shortage,” (June 10 Editorial):

If we had a doctor, lawyer or even hairdresser shortage, I cannot imagine any rational person thinking we should forego licensing for them. The answer is to treat teachers with respect and pay them what they deserve.

The current “pretend” solution demeans teachers. It further dismantles public schools and ignores the role licensing and licensure boards play in monitoring ethical standards for all professions.

Licensing helps ensure that teachers meet academic standards and do not pose danger to our children because of low moral character. Licensing is statewide, ensuring that bad teachers can’t escape oversight by simply moving to the next county. Let’s raise teacher standards and pay, instead of continuing to lower both.

Laura Crumpler, Raleigh

Teaching history

If I understand N.C. Republican efforts to control and bias the teaching of our nation’s history, we might never have known the truth about the 1921 Tulsa Massacre — the largest such single event in U.S. history committed against its Black citizens. Our nation stands in desperate need of healing and restitution, not denial or ignorance of that and/or other tragic occurrences.

Mac Hulslander, Raleigh

Durham chief

Will the Durham City Council learn from history and adopt common sense about policing? Seems unlikely, but consider this:

New York City mayoral candidate Eric Adams, a Black Democrat, is speaking out against spiking violent crime in his city and condemning the disaster that Mayor Bill de Blasio created with his “progressive” policy.

Adams said: “We don’t want to live in a city where children will be hearing gun battles right here on our streets.. No one is going to come to the city as a tourist if 3-year-olds are getting shot.”

Some on the Durham City Council already made our fine police chief leave. They now must find an equal, which can only be done by changing their tone.

Robert Gutman, Durham

Speeding drivers

Regarding “Safety advocates give advice to curb speeding,” (June 9):

Drunk drivers routinely have to install breathalyzers in their cars as part of their plea deals. We have speed monitoring devices that can be installed in cars as well.

Why are we not requiring habitual extreme speeders to install them as part of their plea deals?

If district attorneys and the courts aren’t willing to enforce the law, have auto insurers monitor the data from the devices. They’ll have no problem raising rates and canceling policies on offenders. Maybe that will slow down these NASCAR wannabes.

John Bowser, Raleigh

Legislative pay

Regarding “North Carolina state legislators are paid $13,951. Is that too low?” (June 8):

The Republican proposal concerning legislative pay has at least two major flaws. First, commission members would be chosen by the GOP-dominated legislature. This hardly insulates the legislature from having to refute charges of self-interest in future elections.

Second, the proposal does not mention that the commission should review how well the legislature is performing in its primary task of improving the lives of N.C. citizens..

Without a performance review, I see no reason to consider increasing compensation. This is especially important as the legislature continually signals that its primary goal is to make North Carolina highly ranked among the worst states for helping citizens in areas such as public education, healthcare and equity.

Larry Wolf, Garner

Healthcare in NC

The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated many of the social barriers to health. These barriers, such as limited access to healthy foods or unstable housing, can have a dramatic impact on a person’s health. I see it every day in my job as a licensed clinical social worker.

We must remedy these barriers to health before we can fully serve patients. Not every healthcare problem can, or should, be addressed with a prescription pad.

Our entire health care system is working together to improve underlying drivers of health. We need lawmakers to step up and find new, creative solutions to these persistent challenges. It’s essential to overcome COVID — and to provide exceptional care after COVID.

Emily Snipes, Morrisville