‘We are in crisis right now:’ Asheville, Buncombe educators call for increased pay
By Andrew James
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BUNCOMBE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — The Buncombe County and Asheville City Associations of Educators call for increased wages for teachers and school employees. The associations have created an online petition to deliver to local leaders.
“We know that high-quality educators is the number one predictor of student success,” said Shanna Peele, President of the Buncombe County Association of Educators.
Peele said educators are struggling to keep up with the increased cost of living in Buncombe County. The concerns are making it more challenging to get schools fully staffed.
“In order to retain and recruit high-quality educators in our area, we need to be offering a living wage that’s competitive with other jobs in the area so that people want to teach and drive our buses and work in our cafeterias,” Peele said.
The petition includes requests to increase the take-home pay for certified staff by 7% in every category, raise classified staff pay to $19.60 an hour and become Just Economics Living Wage-certified employers.
“Because the issues are so dire, We are in crisis right now. Our county has the ability to go ahead and fix these problems right now by prioritizing them in their current budget,” Peele said.
“I think it’s incredibly important that teachers are able to live in the communities that they serve,” said Rep. Lindsey Prather, of District 115.
Prather said these requests are the responsibility of the N.C. General Assembly and she plans to take them to Raleigh.
“The conversations I’ve already had with representatives on the other side of the aisle in Raleigh, everybody agrees that this needs to be done,” Prather said.
The local educators plan to deliver the petition to the Asheville City Board of Education, Buncombe County Board of Education, and Buncombe County Commissioners in April.
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