Gailya Paliga: Lost ground on education

The publicity stunt on the teacher protest is all Catherine Truitt’s in her July 12 letter “Publicity stunt ignores education gains.”

I attended the teachers’ heartfelt news conference, went with the large group to the Capitol by 4:45 p.m. and walked to the street after 5:20 p.m. If Truitt had come at 5 p.m. as she claimed, she would have seen and heard us.

What a difference it would have made if Gov. Pat McCrory had sent someone to speak with these passionate teachers. Truitt’s claims on education were refuted in the comments with the online letter.

Here are other cuts by McCrory and NCGA:

▪ In 2013 they cut thousands of teachers and teacher assistants, thousands of counselors and psychologists, money for textbooks, pay for higher education.

▪ In 2014 they cut after-school care for nearly 12,000 children.

▪ In 2015 they terminated the Teaching Fellows Program.

▪ In 2016, they cut the state’s ability to shutter low-performing charter schools and lowered restrictions for badly performing virtual charters. Plus, they increased charter funding to absurd levels, making an “achievement school district” plan (failed in other states).

North Carolina public education has lost so much ground, even since 2013. We can and should do better.

This story was originally published July 13, 2016 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Gailya Paliga: Lost ground on education."