An Open Letter to Our Governor

Pat McCrory

Office of the Governor

20301 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, NC 27699-0301

 

November 16, 2013

 

Governor McCrory:

Let me introduce myself. I am Brandy Carter, and I teach tenth grade English at Bunn High School in Franklin County. I'm sure you receive many letters each day and lately plenty of those letters have surely been from educators like me.  I'm not anyone special. I show up early for school each day, try to build good relationships with my students, and summon my best efforts to teach them the things they need to know. I figure that makes me the equivalent of an Average Joe, which is why I decided to write to you.

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with one of my colleagues that inspired me. He was a firefighter before he became a teacher, and he was explaining to me how firefighting teams work. When there's a large fire, the chief stays in one central location handling all the communications. His job is to manage the situation, to form a plan, and use the fire stations' resources in the most efficient way. The firemen  maintain constant communication with the chief, keeping him informed about what's happening in the field. He needs to know how things are progressing and where to send reinforcements when they're needed. While we talked, I saw a clear parallel between those teams of firefighters and the educational system in our state.

Just like dowsing fires, educating our young people for life-long success is a vital and urgent mission. Each day when I and my fellow teachers are out in the field going about the practical business of making sure the individual needs of students are met,  we are bombarded with fresh directives at every turn without being able to give genuine feedback to our "chiefs" at the highest levels.  The administration in my district and my school is uncommonly supportive. They make great local decisions and constantly have the best interests of my students in mind. On the other hand, you and the leadership in Raleigh seem infinitely far away and disconnected from the daily realities of the classroom.  

It seems that the current dialogue between you and ordinary teachers is characterized in the media and online as defensiveness on your part and vitriolic attacks and complaints on the part of the educators. This letter is neither an attack nor a complaint. It is an appeal to you to find a way to start over.

On Election Day, I stepped into a voting booth and marked the small circle beside your name. As a registered independent, my vote is always up for grabs. I don’t care about party politics; I just want to cast my vote for the person that will get the job done. A year ago, I genuinely thought you might be that guy. I watched your political spots and read about the good things you did as Charlotte’s mayor.  I’m no stranger to the “plain folks” appeal you were aiming for in your ads, wearing a Carhartt jacket and saying, “I’m runnin’ for governor.” I was hoping your ads were more than propaganda, that you were a down-to-earth, common sense guy, who would make the right changes for our state. Unfortunately, the past several months of your governorship have been filled with miscommunication and poor decision making, especially in regards to education.

I applaud you for forming a Teacher Advisory  Council. Hearing the voices of real teachers might help you see that the solutions for education in our state are simple, not "long-term solutions to complex educational issues," as you say.  As you and your administration have continued to make Draconian cuts to the core essentials that districts need to run good schools,  fighting between you and the NCAE has devolved into a name-calling match that would shame kindergarteners. Stop it. Right now. Be the leader I know you can be. Don't be misled into thinking that only elaborate, high-cost fixes will work.

There are immediate, uncomplicated steps you can take today to de-escalate the situation, provide relief to schools, and give students a better learning environment. No matter how technologically advanced our society becomes the rudiments of good education never change.

Learning is always under-pinned by strong relationships. Students need quality attention from adults to learn well. Allow for more teachers, assistants, and other support staff. It will provide jobs for North Carolinians and increase the number of caring people available to build connections with students. Pay your employees enough so that they can support their families. Nobody I know became a teacher to get rich; money is not the incentive. However, there's a quality of life threshold. Not having resources to care for one's family can quickly overshadow the abstract rewards that motivate most teachers.

Provide adequate supplies. Teachers are creative and engaging. If relationships are healthy and supported by a positive educational culture, students won't necessarily need all the sparklers and firecrackers of the latest technology. Kids will learn with the simplest of supplies as long as they feel loved. Teachers are frugal and resourceful, but there are limits to that, too. In order to teach, we need buses to bring our kids to school. We need paper to make copies or, at the very least, relatively up-to-date textbooks that aren't falling apart. Not to mention how shoddy supplies affect student morale. This year I overheard a student say, "It's bad when your chemistry book is really more like a loose collection of pages." I would have laughed if the comment weren't so heartbreaking.

Allow for local decisions. Our state is diverse. What best serves children in the mountains might prove worthless for youngsters at the beach. Provide a strong framework of guidance and support for education in our state and let each district work out the rest. Delegate. You've got a state to run after all. Quit letting your time and energy be drained away by small-scale debates and decisions. I've seen through personal experience that good leaders develop a positive culture, then step back and give the people they've put in place the space to manage individual responsibilities. My principal has provided a powerful vision for our school and has cleverly communicated it with short mantras. Even the kids know our school is all about "Rigor and Relationships." Her passion convinces everyone to buy in. It works; our school exceeded the learning growth targets set by your administration last year.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like a bit of hypocrite because each semester I ask my students to buy in to the idea that language is powerful. I teach them how to write, hoping that they will be able to express themselves well and as I often tell them, “use their words to change the world.” My desire is that this letter will encourage you, Governor McCrory, and embolden you to rise above the political rhetoric, to act in genuine, meaningful ways, to lead us well. Collect information about our schools that hasn't been tainted by political agendas, then make bold decisions using both your head and your heart. Don't be afraid to approach the current "cloud" of low teacher morale with openness and humility. The positive response of Average Joe teachers like me might surprise you.

Sincerely,

Brandy Carter

English Teacher

Bunn High School

Bunn, NC