Moore addresses teacher convocation


Convocation Crowd
Part of the crowd at the Vance County Schools Convocation
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Second-term State Treasurer Richard Moore was the featured speaker at the Vance County Schools Convocation held yesterday morning at Northern Vance High School.

Moore’s speech was prefaced by a program that featured a series of welcomes and introductions to the packed high school gymnasium.

Local politicos such as Henderson City Council members Elissa Yount and Lonnie Davis were introduced as well as Vance County Commissioner Wilbur Boyd. Former long-time Henderson Mayor Chick Young was also present for the yearly event.

Robert Duke, Tommy Riddle, Gloria White, and Emeron Cash were present as members of the Vance County Board of Education.

Ella Bryant, the Vance County Teacher of the Year, gave a stirring and emphatic speech that exhorted teachers to be innovative and to work in teams. She made reference to the county’s new web site which touts the motto “a transformation in education”, calling what is ahead a “bright future of change”.

The Vance County Principal of the Year, Victor Fenner, recognized not only teachers but educational support staff such as custodians, bus drivers, social workers, and other frequently unrecognized laborers and professionals who are necessary to make a school run. The theme of his speech was the oft-heard “it takes a village to raise a child”.

Moore, a native of Granville county who resides in Kittrell, was introducted as the overseer of over $70 billion in state assets, including the state pension plan.

Richard Moore
Richard Moore addresses Convocation

The state treasurer, who is also a member of the State Board of Education, said in his presentation that the state funds have grown to $75 billion.

He also mentioned that North Carolina has the second-best funded pension in the United States. He said that he would not be happy until the state had the best-funded pension.

Moore told the audience that Florida has the best-rated pension plan.

“Those folks in Florida have a history of not being able to count very well,” he cautioned jokingly.

The treasurer told the crowd of future state pensioners that North Carolina was one of three systems in the county that is fully funded, meaning that it has money on-hand to pay all of its obligations.

Moore also addressed the $110 million that was borrowed by the General Assembly in the recent past. He said that $30 million was allocated this year in a fourth repayment.

“I promise you we will get every single penny back that was diverted,” he told the teachers and other system employees.

Moore remarked on his One Dollar More Coalition, a group he formed to lobby for a raise in the state’s mimimum wage, commenting, “No one can get by on $893 a month.”

Minimum wage was raised for the first time in ten years during the most recent session of the General Assembly.

The treasurer said that North Carolina’s investment money gives him the opportunity to make companies do what is right. He referred to his stand against H&R Block, recently noted for charging 700% interest on 10-day income tax refund loans.

Moore informed the audience about the $500 million in the Unclaimed Property Fund which can be checked at www.nccash.com.

He quoted his wife as saying, “Isn’t it just like a politician to give you your own money back and make a big deal out of it?”

Moore concluded his remarks by giving Vance County Schools $121 in unclaimed money back by means of a claim form to be submitted to the state.

Shearin addresses Convocation
Dr. Norm Shearin addresses Convocation

Dr. Norm Shearin, the Vance County Superintendent of Schools who is beginning his forty-first year as an educator concluded the convocation with brief remarks, saying of teaching that “it is a mission; it is a life’s work”.