I hope everyone enjoyed time together with family and friends during the Christmas and New Year’s season. Annie and I received a special early holiday gift with the birth of a grandson, Nicholas, born Nov. 5.
Help, not hinder, teachers
It looks like it will be up to the courts to decide if a recent surprise late-night session instigated by the Republican majority was constitutional.
During the controversial session the General Assembly—mostly along party lines—overrode Gov. Perdue’s veto of a bill that would deny teachers the right to have NC
Association of Educators’ dues withheld from their paychecks. The bill was a retaliatory move by the GOP against the NCAE for protesting against deep budget cuts in education.
State employees currently enjoy the benefit of having dues and donations withheld for an estimated 500 organizations, including the NC Zoological Park, an Alzheimer’s research group and Planned Parenthood. The State Employees Association of North Carolina, a group that has been supportive of the General Assembly leadership, will also continue to receive dues collected by the state.
After the vote on Jan. 5, the NCAE filed papers in Wake County Superior Court requesting a restraining order. Judge Paul Gessner agreed that Senate Bill 727 would cause “irreparable harm” to the organization.
Gessner ruled that the complaint had merit and that there is some question as to whether the General Assembly had the authority to call the after-midnight session. Gov. Perdue had called a special session the afternoon of Jan. 4 to deal with her veto of the Racial Justice Act repeal. Republicans were unable to garner enough votes to override her veto, then passed a resolution to hold a session in the very early hours of Jan. 5.
There are two controversies here: was the session legal and has the majority party unfairly targeted the NCAE? The courts will sort out the former. The latter is obvious, and that is a mean-spirited way to treat the people who commit themselves to teaching our children. As a former educator and the husband of a 27-year veteran of teaching, I know we should be helping our teachers, not hindering them. Doing away with the dues check off will make it harder for the NCAE to collect money to function and serve the educators of this state.
Next session
The next session is slated for Feb. 16. So far no items have been placed on the Senate calendar.
As always I welcome your comments on this newsletter or anything else that concerns you. My office is here to help in whatever manner we can. It is an honor to serve as your Senator, and I will do everything in my power to live up to that honor.
Sincerely,
Doug Berger
Oh, wow…does that mean we can undo the disastrous NC lottery then? Because I specifically remember Democrats doing all kinds of shenanigans to get it passed…after the people of this state specifically rejected it.
And please don’t try to persuade us that teachers “enjoy” the benefit of money being taken out of their pay…the only people here who are harmed by this override are the UNION thugs at the top of the unions. We have seen the havov they have been causing all over the place lately.
We are not fooled…
…oh, and by the way…best wishes on your new grandson…grandchildren are a blessing.
Ninabob you’re right, the democrats pulled nasty political sorcery to pass the lottery very similar to what the republicans did just last week regarding the teacher association dues.
I will give the Dems credit for doing so in the daylight.
Phil, The govt collects union dues from the teachers before they get their pay check. If the union is so great, why are they worried that the teachers won’t still pay those dues? The teacher’s union is a purely political power and how can the state distinguish what union dues to deduct – what if all the govt services are unionized, will the state pull all those union dues out? It is a quagmire.
How would you like to be a hard working teacher, your students love you and learn more from you than other teachers. The teacher in the room next door is apathetic to the students, never puts in extra hours and the students don’t particularly care one way or the other about that teacher. Shouldn’t the first teacher getter a bigger check due to merit? WHere is the incentive to be a better teacher if there is no way to earn more money? Do all the better teachers go into administration to make more money? Unions, especially public sector unions, should be illegal. It is stealing from the tax payer.
I think ALL of those bums should work well into the night every night to get their work done. We sure as heck pay them enough!
I’m referring to our politicians of course.
I agree that government shouldn’t choose what ‘union’s to deduct, but here they are doing it. Adding the wording “other than local boards of education” to the allowed list of state employees is singling them out.
The bill specifically struck out teachers. The bill specifically allows payroll deduction for other employees of the state or political subdivisions, institutions, departments, bureaus, agencies, commissions, and community colleges.
The teachers association is a non-profit. Why not allow any worker the option to deduct pre-tax to non-profits of the workers choosing? There are already strict guidelines as to what qualifies as a non-profit. We allow it for retirement accounts, healthcare, why not supporting non-profits? On the surface that sounds good to me, but I’d like to know more about how could someone use that deduction to do unintended things.
The other issues you raised are of concern sure, but there are different factors involved than them being in a union.
Someone has to define who is a hard working teacher. Test scores are a terrible way to define that, causing teachers teaching to the test, schools lowering standards to pass students, dropping traditionally ‘hard’ classes. Kids are graduating high school that can’t even form a proper sentence.
I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know a thing about teaching, or how they are analyzed, but I’ve read plenty of horror teacher stories that have to conform to the ‘system’ or become blacklisted. So all the below is just my thoughts. And it’s a Friday night so I’ll ramble a bit.
If a teacher is apathetic to students, they shouldn’t get a pay cut, they should get fired. That doesn’t mean all the other teachers should get paid more. The other teachers were doing their job, the apathetic one was not. Should a teacher get paid more because they put in extra hours? I don’t think so. The ‘system’ should not require a teacher to work extra hours off the clock, should not require them to buy their own supplies etc. If a teacher wants to put in extra hours thats their choice, but it should never become expected. I think by now the thousands of years there have been teachers they have a pretty good idea of how long it takes outside of class time to engage and help students. Figure that time into their salary.
But someone has to grade the teachers to ensure they aren’t apathetic. Ensure they are teaching to the students in an approved manner, whether the students pass or fail. Not give teachers a raise because all their students made all A’s because the only requirement was that they wrote their name on the paper. What’s killing kids right now is dumbed down tests and
So how should a teacher get a raise? Get one every year like everyone else. Cost of living raise or whatever you want to call it. If you move up from teacher position then you get a different pay scale. If you lead some club or group assign additional rates for each of those. The teachers that aren’t teaching get fired.
Have an independent board that goes around to all the teachers unannounced and sits in their class all day randomly to grade the teachers. At first I thought have the principal do this. But I can forsee drama between teachers and principals where a he said she said could get a good teacher fired.
Anyway, I think there’s tons of issues with teachers a lot more devastating than having some amount voluntarily contributed by them to a non profit. Singling out this ability by republicans (and 2 democrats) for an admitted political revenge is wrong.
Imagine if the House or Senate decided they didn’t like the company that ran your 401k and made a bill that said “other than contributors to Merril Lynch” or whoever.
The NCAE is not a union. Get your facts straight,
Senator Berger:
Congratulations on the birth of your grandson! I want to thank you for using Home in Henderson as a medium to communicate with your constituents. We have met a couple of times and you have always been both warm hearted and kind.
My questions have to deal with recruitment and retention I suppose. How do we attract people to want to come and live their lives in Henderson? In the same way, how do we make some one who has just graduated college or finished their military service for example to want to come back to their hometown? Of course we must offer diverse employment opportunities. To me that would be the start. What are your feelings on this?
The Henderson I knew as a child in the 1980’s and 1990’s is all but gone. We have some of the worst neighborhoods in the state right here in our little neck of the woods. How do we clean up the city itself? Foot traffic is awful especially when many of those walking do not care if they impede the cars in front of them. To me the morale of our citizens is low, Senator. We need to make our voters proud of where they live once more!
I could go on for a couple of days as could you I am guessing. This is by far not one of my more eloquent posts. But you are a smart man who has worked hard for this area and surely get the point I am trying to make. Henderson needs the ears of those who are elected to serve its citizens to listen to us. We thirst for change and a higher quality of life. We beg you to help bring the commerce here so we can restore our societal values and drive more and more people towards calling Henderson home.
All, Mr. Berger has responded to this thread by email in his response below. I can confirm that this is Mr. Berger: Mr. Mojo you may be receiving a response also in the next couple of days.
Dear Ninabob,
Thank you for your expression of good will. Regardless of political differences, we can both agree that grandchildren are truly one of God’s greatest blessings. I do want to in good faith take issue with your comparison of the lottery vote with the recent vote on the right of public school teachers to have dues voluntarily taken out of their paychecks for their membership in the NCAE. The people of this state never rejected the lottery. The lottery had over 60 percent support form the public at the time that it passed into law. At the time of passage, there was intense pressure by the Republican leadership on its members to bloc vote against the lottery.
At the time of the vote there were 5 Democrats who were opposed to the lottery and maintained their position in face of both popular support by the people and overwhelming support by the majority of Democratic Senators. Unlike the current Republican majority in the House, Senate Democrats who opposed the lottery did not face political retribution by its leadership. On the other hand Senate Republicans who supported the lottery feared political retribution from their leadership at the time as Republicans in the House currently do. The Democrats were able to pass the lottery because two Republicans Senator Harry Brown and Senator John Garwood failed to show when Senator Marc Basnight called for a special meeting to vote on the lottery one week after he had given up on being able to obtain a majority of the votes. Senator Harry Brown had previously campaigned in favor of the lottery. Reverend Mark Creech an opponent of the lottery met with John Garwood and specifically asked him to pair his vote so that the lottery could be defeated and he declined. Because of his passive but important role in the passage of the lottery, he was defeated in the Republican primary during his re-election bid. Republicans Harry Brown and John Garwood took what in legislative parlance is known as “a walk.” Taking a walk is when a legislator wants to or agrees to facilitate passage of a piece of legislation, but does not want to publicly vote for the legislation.
I would also take issue with your characterization of the NCAE as a union and their collection of dues. Let me again point out that SEANC the largest membership organization for state employees will be able to continue to collect dues unlike the NCAE under the legislation that was passed. It is a voluntary choice to become a member of either organization by paying such dues. A teacher or state employee that has made the decision to have their dues deducted from their paycheck can change their mind and instruct the state to not deduct dues. Neither the NCAE or SEANC or any public employee organization in the state of North Carolina has the right to engage in collective bargaining. North Carolina is one of only two states that has such a broad prohibition. Without the right to collectively bargain, I question the fairness of labeling these organizations as “unions’. Even if we were to allow both the NCAE and SEANC to engage in collective bargaining, they would not be able to force individuals to become members because North Carolina is a right to work state.
Sincerely yours,
Senator Berger
Thank you, Mr. Hart. The same is in order for Senator Berger. I will be on the look out for a response should he choose to offer one. It is my sincere hope that he does. The explanation of the lottery was thorough and I cannot help but hear the late great radio personality Paul Harvey say his famous tag line; “Now you know the rest of the story.” We can all learn a thing or two if our Senators response is read and taken to heart. There is some good information in there.
Mr. Mojo Risin, Response from Mr. Berger follows:
Dear Mr. Mojo Risin,
Thank you for the warmth of support you have expressed in your letter. You may not be aware, but it is highly likely that this year will be the last year I will serve as the Senator of Henderson in particular and Vance County in general. The redistricting plan adopted by the General Assembly has established a new district where my home county of Franklin is now joined with Eastern Wake County and not Vance County. Even if the Democrats are successful in their legal dispute with this plan, alternatives the Party has proposed would still not result in a district where I will be able to continue to represent Vance County. I share this reality with you because it permits me to give you a very candid response on the subject matter you raise.
You ask “how do we attract people to want to come and live their lives in Henderson? In the same way, how do we make some one who has just graduated college or finished their military service for example to want to come back to their hometown.”
Out of all the communities, I represent the Henderson- Vance area is the most fractured in its support for the public school system The lack of confidence in the public school system is symbolized by a school board attorney who chose to send his own children to private schools. Meaningful integration of the public school system apparently never took place in Vance County..
This conversation is a conversation economic recruiters for Henderson face when they are trying to persuade corporate leaders to invest in the development of manufacturing facilities in Vance County. The Henderson-Vance area has the best group of local leaders in my district dedicated in the promotion of economic development ( Bill Edwards comes immediately to mind) however, they are handicapped by this problem I have described. Henderson -Vance has a first rate community college that can provide trained workers I-85 as a main transportation artery, a hospital affiliated with the Duke Health System, the best public library in rural North Carolina and a state of the art recreational facility. All of these features are attractive to corporate leaders who must decide whether to invest in Henderson-Vance. However until the problem of the lack of support for public schools is addressed, successful recruitment of industry will never reach its potential.. The corporate and community leaders of Wake County understood the relationship between quality schools with diverse student populations and the recruitment of industry. This understanding is why in 2011 Wake County citizens voted out leaders who wanted to make the Wake County Public School System look more like the Vance County Public School System in terms of its lack of meaningful diversity at its individual schools.
If the black and white citizens of Henderson-Vance adopt a shared vision that results in diverse public schools with high academic standards and strong discipline, I believe it will experience the economic prosperity we have witnessed in the Triangle. I believe new people will be attracted to move to Henderson and more children who graduate from college or complete military service will choose to return home to Henderson to raise a family..
Sincerely yours,
Senator Doug Berger
Mr. Berger your intentions are for the people to come back to Henderson to flip bergers, which would probably be a profit for you.
The lack of confidence in the public school system is but one of a long list of reasons people would not choose to return to Henderson.
Google NCAE and guess what comes up – “union representing teachers in the state, affiliated with the NEA”. Henry the Eighth says “get your facts straight” and Senator Berger insists that the NCAE is an “organization” not a union. How can you have an honest discussion when even elected officials want to make their cause look better by softening up the verbage associated with their opinion? The bottom line is even if you are a terrible public school teacher you can’t get fired after you have been employed for a certain amount of time and you can’t get paid more for being a terrific teacher. So all the good teachers go and be administrators to make more money and the students suffer. The “organization” has not done well by the constituents it claims to represent. It has only ensured mediocrity in the public teaching profession. Would love to know what the salaries of those NCAE directors are, sure it would make a lot of those hard working teachers on the front line ill. How about doing a freedom of information request for that information, Phil?
Hmm, with it being a non-profit I would assume that that information would be publicly available, but I’m not positive on that. I’ll do some looking. I did find an old tax return or something like that in my research last week. I do have a request into them if they would provide the number of NCAE teachers in Vance county, and the total number of teachers in the county.
So Dagney, the question is why can’t you get fired after being employeed by a certian amount of time? Is that true only for the NCAE teachers? What is tenure? I really don’t know. I agree there needs to be a way to entice the good teachers to do more good, I’m just not sure how.
Here’s the latest info I found, from the period of July 1 2009 to June 30 2010 President Sheri Strickland received $143,607, Vice President Rodney Ellis $111,696, Executive Director Scott Anderson $135,000, Associate Executive Director Kelvin Spragley $134,547, Communications Manager Jacqueline Vaughn $127,680, Membership Manager John Ferguson $119,122, Legal Services Manager Claudia Williams $112,430, Teaching and Learning Manager Angela Farthing $109,879. These amounts are base, then there’s retirement and other deferred compensation ad benefits. Across the whole organization a total of $7,629,623 was spent in salaries and benefits across all the employees.
Senator Berger,
Thank you for your response. I also appreciate Mr. Hart facilitating this interaction. Forgive me for having not reviewed the redistricting plan prior to this however; I am glad that my folly allowed for a response with a more personal touch.
You listed several of the gems that Vance County has to offer companies looking to relocate and new businesses as well. Lucky for us this list is lengthy. It has been my good fortune to have met our new Economic Development Director and heard one of his presentations. So long as he has the correct resources he should be successful. As you know all to well, every occupation requires one to have the right tools in their tool box.
I was impressed with your take on what is working against our county’s fiscal growth. To tell you the truth, it was an opinion that I was not expecting nor one that I had given much thought but it makes all the sense in the world. Last year I was encouraged to take a survey on the Vance County Schools website which asked tax payers like me what credentials we would want in a new superintendent. The results were published and the majority wanted to hire a new leader from outside Vance County. Much to my dismay our School Board hired from within. I am sure you are familiar with this decision and its consequences. Often I wonder why the survey was established in the first place. Couple that with the symbolism you offered and it is clear we have some issues that must be resolved in order for things to change.
Senator Berger I hope that your successor is one who will utilize Home in Henderson just as you have. It has been nice to read your commentary about the business in Raleigh. Thank you again for responding to a voter like me and to those following along. I wish you the best of luck in your new district!
Excellent work, Phil Hart! You are a gem in this community.
Those salaries over at NCAE, the “organization” that is “representing” the teachers in NC, look astronomical! Ninabob says it best early on when she targets the group of “wealthy thugs at the top of the union”. Another question comes to mind, how much of the “dues” goes to political advertising and what percentage are to Democrat causes? What happens if a teacher refuses to “join” NCAE? And why do public employees that work for the state even need a union, to vote themselves more money from the tax payers? You can google all day looking at the links between SEANC and SEIU and its head Andy Stern, who has spent more nights in the White House than any other guest since our current president has been in office. Americans understand the bail out and how much money was borrowed to pay off the unions at the expense of the bond holders. Americans understand the unsustainable “deals” that have been arranged by public and private sector unions that are crippling states and localities and businesses. Go after those unions, question their authority, and you will be labeled a hate filled meanie that wants teachers to starve and poor children to fail in school. But do those unions really care about the teachers they claim to serve or the political power it affords a few at the top? Has the “organization” – NOT UNION! – negotiated a very good deal for teachers when they can’t get any merit pay but there are 10 heads at one state organization pulling over $100K a year?!
It is a credit to Sen Berger that he is willing to communicate with his constituents on this forum but his answer to the whole dilemna is simplistic: “If the black and white citizens of Henderson-Vance adopt a shared vision that results in diverse public schools with high academic standards and strong discipline I believe it will experience the economic prosperity we have witnessed in the Triangle.” So it is the citizen’s fault for not sharing a vision of high academic standards and strong discipline and that is why people don’t return to H/VC to live and work?
I don’t expect any nice explanations from Sen Berger about the REAL difficult questions that have been raised from his initial editorial, that was an attempt to make the current Republican leadership look like evil thiefs in the night, hateful of teachers and scornful of the public school system. It only opens up another question, how much $$$ has that “organization” spent getting Sen Berger elected and reelected in his political career? Oh that’s right, its all about the teachers.
Just a quick note before I have to step out, I’m pretty sure I remember seeing the political spending amount also in the numbers, and seem to remember it was around $45,000 for the same year. Will check when I have some time today.
Dagny:
What are the “REAL” questions? Do you think what the Republicans did to the teachers the other night to be OK? I like your passion for standing up for what you believe to be just. Looking for some for insight…