If you can recall George Orwell’s 1984, you’ll see many similarities in what follows. For those of you who need a refresher, Winston Smith, living in a superstate called Oceania, is caught up in the “party’s” overreach to the point he can no longer go on. His job is to rewrite history according to the rules of Big Brother. Language is hijacked into Newspeak, a way of saying something without actually saying it. In this way, Big Brother can limit independent thinking, and everyone, like lemmings, will think the same as they all walk off the cliff together.
Before we continue, let’s do a thought experiment. You have a dentist appointment, and you have to have a root canal. You and the dentist go over the cost, and the procedure is scheduled for a certain day. This will be an extensive surgery, and you are expected to be there for several hours. On the day of the procedure, you are all numbed up, and the dentist comes in and says, “You know what. I didn’t charge you enough, and I don’t think you appreciate what I do. I can get three times this much in New York or California. So, until you are willing to pay more, you’ll need to sit here with your mouth open until you agree to a higher charge.”
According to recent news reports, that is exactly what the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) is doing. They have called for a teachers’ strike on 1 May, when “thousands” of teachers will descend on the state legislature, leading to the cancellation of classes that day. The point of the strike is to get more money for pay and benefits, of course, to get more school funding, and to fight tax cuts. There is something in here for everyone…to hate.
Now here’s where the Orwellian doublespeak comes in. Teachers are not allowed to strike, so they cannot call this spade a spade, or they’ll be in trouble. NCAE is calling this a “mass mobilization for a day of action,” not a strike. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, well, there you go. Further, because so many teachers are expected to be absent, some districts are closing schools or cancelling classes (this is the dentist telling you, that you have to pay more for what he’s expected to do).
If all of this were not enough to raise hackles, some schools will not count this day as absent since some school children will want to attend. After all, NCAE in perfect Newspeak is calling this “putting kids over corporations.” I guess we can admit that teachers are teaching children how to protest.
Let’s parse this out, shall we? It is a strike, and teachers should, if not be fired, have their pay docked. Remember what happened when the air traffic controllers went on a “mass mobilization” under Reagan? They didn’t have jobs the next day. It’s outrageous that teachers choose a school day to do this. Why are there rarely any strikes when teachers are on vacation, for instance, during July? Could it be they don’t want their vacations interrupted? Oh, right.
And can we chat a bit about return on investment? How many more tens of billions will be required to pay teachers to teach children how to read, add, and subtract? It would appear that even $12.75 billion is not enough (another billion comes from the federal government). This works out to more than $12,000 per K-12 student in the Tarheel state. Now, educrats will immediately tell you this is less than other states, but the response should be, then perhaps you need to move. It also costs more to live in those other states, so choose your poison. The return on this investment does not even guarantee that all students know how to read, or are college or career-ready.
As for cancelling classes, superintendents need to pull those six-figure district administrators to teach classes where teachers are absent. Granted, some of them are in district offices because they couldn’t teach, but one day will hurt no one and keep schools open.
It’s outrageous that after agreeing to the contract proffered, teachers are now trying to leverage for more money. Don’t be blinded by the Newspeak about this being “for the kids.” If it were for the kids, they’d be in the classroom teaching. And where is this money coming from? Apparently, the teachers’ association is out of sorts with corporations, so if you’re a CEO, pull your dollars from public schools. NCAE doesn’t want your stinking lucre. Tax cuts are off the table, so mom and dad, the dollars will come from you, more dollars that do not guarantee your son or daughter will be able to read, write, add, or subtract.
Comus wishes he could say this is a new song, but it’s an old one with hardly a new verse. Teachers also went on strike in 2018 and 2019, and also in Raleigh. It’s time that North Carolinians wake up to this nonsense. If NCAE is successful, Tarheel residents should get ready to open their wallets and say, AHHHHH…OUCH.
Homeschooling, anyone?
