Pay cuts protested

School employees from Carteret and Craven counties hold signs and umbrellas during a teacher rally Tuesday to protest state pay cuts. The rally was held Tuesday at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City. (Cheryl Burke photo)

NEWS-TIMES

Published: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 3:04 PM EDT

CHERYL BURKE

MOREHEAD CITY — About 30 school employees from Carteret and Craven counties rallied Tuesday to vent frustration over state pay cuts announced April 28 by Gov. Bev Perdue.

The group, comprised of N.C. Association of Educators (NCAE) members, gathered at the Crystal Coast Civic Center.

The meeting was hurriedly called to plan for a statewide rally planned for noon Saturday at the NCAE headquarters in Raleigh, where educators will protest the half-percent pay cut for teachers and state employees. That cut is in effect for May and June to help close the gap on an estimated $3 billion state budget shortfall for this fiscal year.

“We just got notified about the rally last week, and I have received so many phone calls from people upset about the cuts that I thought it would be a good idea to meet and discuss what we can do,” said Opal Bostic, president of the Carteret County Association of Educators.

“I’m a single mom, and it’s hard enough to make ends meet,” she continued. “We know it’s hard times, but to have that much money come out of your check without any notice is hard. We had no time to prepare.”

Many of those attending the meeting brought umbrellas as a symbol of the thousands of NCAE members who stood in the rain on Election Day to vote for candidates who had promised a strong commitment to education. Others brought signs calling for a halt to pay cuts.

Gov. Perdue’s executive order includes a flexible furlough plan for teachers and state employees. It calls for all teachers’ and state employees’ compensation to be reduced by an annualized amount equivalent to 0.5 percent for the remainder of the fiscal year. In return, each employee will receive 10 hours of flexible time off that can be taken between June 1 and Dec. 31.

County school employees were also hit with the news May 1 that additional local cuts were coming in 2009 in anticipation of state budget cuts. Those cuts include such things as: furloughs when employees will not work, will not be paid and cannot use leave time; reducing overtime; cutting back on hours of teacher assistants; eliminating three central office positions; eliminating some teacher positions; and continuing a freeze on rehiring retirees.

Jane Burbella, a media coordinator at East Carteret High School, said the N.C. General Assembly is considering additional bills that would cut even more from education.

“Surely there are other areas that can be cut,” said Mrs. Burbella. “I don’t mind doing my share, but don’t balance the local or state budget to the detriment of our educational program in Carteret County and in North Carolina.”

Mrs. Burbella said her household is taking a double hit financially because her husband, George Burbella, a computer-lab remediation instructor at ECHS, was notified his position was among those cut next school year.

Mr. Burbella also serves as co-athletic director at East Carteret and has coached three other sports. She said the school system has indicated Mr. Burbella will be moved to another school because of his seniority, but will lose his coaching supplements.

“I guess we are grateful he has a job, but because he will not be co-athletic director with a supplement and a month’s summer employment and coaching three various sports all three seasons, his salary took a significant hit,” she said.

“We implore our government — both local and state — to help education maintain its current status and when the budget crunch is over to continue to help our Carteret County and North Carolina educational program.”

Liz Kappel, a guidance counselor at East Carteret, went so far as to say she was willing to give up her job in order to save a classroom teacher’s position.

“I’m a counselor but my job should go before a classroom teacher,” she said.

She called on legislators to put a moratorium on much of the state’s mandated tests and put that money toward the budget deficit.

“We should put a moratorium on the extensive testing. Stop the field testing and the follow-up field testing. Then before we reinstate the testing I challenge our state legislators to take the five tests high school students must take in order to graduate,” she said.

“They’re so important that students can’t graduate without passing them. So if the legislators don’t score proficient they can’t run for office or keep their office. That’s what they tell us.”

She added that instead of cutting teacher positions, cuts should be made to jobs at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Thirdly, she demanded more transparency on how money was being spent by the state government.

County Commissioner Wade Nelms encouraged teachers to attend the County Board of Education and county commissioners’ meetings to let their concerns be known.

“I want to hear from the people in the field. We’ve got serious decisions to make,” he said. “We just received our budget workbooks last weekend. I want to hear what’s going right and what’s wrong. But keep in mind we’ve got to deal with what’s trickling down from the state.”

Former N.C. Rep. Ronnie Smith of Highway 24 west encouraged NCAE members to organize and present a united show of force in Raleigh.

“It’s important that you fight for what you believe in,” he said. “NCAE, you elected Bev Perdue as governor.”

In response to Mr. Smith’s statement, someone in the audience yelled, “And we can ‘unelect’ her, too.”

Retired school employee Jimmy Collins, who served as a past NCAE District Director and Precinct President, put his hand on his heart at one point and said, “It hurts my heart to see what they’re doing. I urge the governor to go back and look at the budget and give the money back to the students.”

Rhonda Sneeden, sister-in-law of late Carteret County Schools Superintendent Brad Sneeden, was among educators from Craven County attending the meeting.

“What can we do now? Go to Raleigh Saturday,” she said. “Encourage your friends and family to go to Saturday. E-mail and write your legislators. Talk to them every chance you get. Be vigilant.”

Robert Blackwell, regional education consultant for the NCAE, said, “We know that our governor has a gigantic task ahead of her to save North Carolina from financial ruin. We understand that no one is safe or completely protected from pay cuts given the economic condition of this state and nation.

“Teachers and state employees in North Carolina have historically shouldered the burden for the state with no pay raises to small pay raises when politicians have struggled to balance the budget. In difficult economic times, it has been educators who have sacrificed to help the state move forward or move beyond financial crisis.

“We hope that in the long-term our governor and legislators will look at other options to save money and to cut spending. Major steps need to be taken by the General Assembly to provide the appropriate revenue to prevent job layoffs, class size expansion and further salary reductions.”