Tonight, the Roosevelt Institute wrote a diary on how workers are actively fighting for more pay. We would like to present a counterpoint -- where the North Carolina legislature is engaging in massive wage suppression, gutting teacher pay and ending teacher tenure. The wage suppression bill passed the legislature last year, and today, All Things Considered reported on the effects that teachers were feeling across the state.
In a nutshell, 20% to 40% fewer students are seeking to have a teaching degree in the state of North Carolina. For some, there is always the option of moving to South Carolina, where the pay is as much as $17,000 more. And many others are openly questioning whether they still belong in teaching anymore. All Things Considered told the sad story of one teacher living in poverty, still living with her parents because of the low pay in North Carolina.
The legislature plans to raise the starting pay for teachers from the present $30,000+ to $35,000 over the next few years, making it more competitive with neighboring states. However, the salary scale will be much flatter than in years past, meaning that it will be a lot more difficult for the state to retain experienced teachers. Many will start their careers in North Carolina, only to move to neighboring states where the pay is much higher or leave the teaching profession completely. And there will be little incentive for teachers to continue their education when the consequence will be more debt and not enough pay increase to offset the costs.
Other laws passed by North Carolina include a voucher plan as well as charter school expansion. The voucher plan will likely come under a court challenge and be ruled unconstitutional due to violating the Establishment Clause. And both the charter school money and the voucher money could have just as easily been spent on teacher pay and other education needs.
But there are larger forces at work here. The goal of certain corporate, political, and governmental interests is to institute a system of legalized slavery where people are constantly drowning in debt due to not getting enough pay. Value is assigned to people based on test scores and credit scores; those whose scores are not high enough are deemed to be unemployable and unable to buy or sell. Since people are not able to pay their debts, interest goes higher and higher and more fees are added on. This Orwellian system is set up so that the 1% can profit off human misery.
It is really interesting how this insidious system of wage slavery is being undermined by the very capitalistic system that the politicians claim to uphold. Many teachers are voting with their feet and moving elsewhere. And many prospective teachers are voting with their feet and choosing professions where the pay is much better. But the goal of the 1% is to force the masses to work such long, hard hours just to give the 1% their entitlements that they will enter a state of learned helplessness, trapped in a world of debt and endless work. If we get to that point as a society, then we are truly screwed.