It’s not unusual to see recreational vehicles at Veterans Memorial Park in Mount Airy, with its spacious camping areas, but one RV recently arriving at the West Lebanon Street facility stood out from others.
This particular conveyance boasted an eye-catching paint scheme and messaging that left no doubt about the purpose of its travels: to pay tribute to the state’s educators.
That was accomplished with a colorful decoration containing an apple in the shape of a heart to form the statement, “We love public schools,” in which the heart symbol was used in the place of the word “love.”
The appearance by the special recreational vehicle in Mount Airy was sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) as part of a statewide tour to show support for teachers amid efforts under way aimed at making their job easier.
As noted on the side of the RV, that mission involves traveling to all 100 counties in North Carolina within a five-month period.
Its stopover in Mount Airy marked the 76th visit to a county and was timed with the observance of Teacher Appreciation Week earlier this month, according to NCAE representative Colleen Lanier.
The visit provided an opportunity to celebrate public education and thank local educators for the job they do, Lanier added.
Representatives of both Mount Airy City Schools and Surry County Schools were present at Veterans Memorial Park for the occasion.
Along with the visibility generated by the large vehicle, Lanier said it allows personnel who drive the RV to the different locations with a convenient place to stay overnight.
She said the tour was temporarily halted last week in a western part of the state due to the shutdown of the Colonial Pipeline causing major gasoline shortages there and elsewhere in North Carolina.
Underlying issues
The RV tour is coinciding with efforts by the North Carolina Association of Educators to draw attention to various changes sought on behalf of public school teachers, including pay.
“I would like to see the salary commensurate with the new requirements for teachers, because now you have to teach half the class online,” said Gloria Lawrence, a retired local educator who is active with the NCAE.
Lawrence pointed out Tuesday that while Mount Airy City Schools have operated in-person since the first of this academic year, “in the county you have half the class online.”
That has hampered the ability of teachers to adequately perform their jobs, not only instructing but engaging in vital communications with parents, Lawrence says. “It’s harder to have conferences, I think, when you can’t see each other,” she said of one example.
Lawrence mentioned that she is part of the “retired version” of the educational organization rather than the “active version.”
“And we’re stronger than the active version of that group,” she added, due to factors including departures among the ranks of the latter. “Most of us were active when the political climate was different and we stayed active after we retired.”
Lawrence said the retirees’ arm “would like to change that if she could,” including more members representing those still working.
In the meantime, the North Carolina Association of Educators recently conducted a Zoom press conference to highlight new poll results showing broad bipartisan support for public schools, educators and investing additional funding in campuses.
Among the findings of the survey, conducted by public opinion pollster Cornell Belcher, 69% of North Carolinians believe the state does not invest enough in public schools and 6 % of Republicans strongly support more funding.
The poll also showed that 6 % of citizens have a positive view of educators in their neighborhood public schools.
North Carolina ranked 42nd in teacher salary for the 2019-2020 school year out of the 50 states, according to the National Education Association.
Among others goals of the NCAE are having nurses stationed in all schools and changing a measure that goes into effect next Jan. 1 in which teachers hired by the state no longer will continue to receive insurance benefits after retirement.
The NCAE believes 2021 could be the year to get some of its goals accomplished since the state Legislature has additional money to allocate as a result of federal pandemic aid.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com