CommenTerry: Volume Fourteen | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: These posts, by Dr. Terry Stoops, and aptly titled CommonTerry, appears courtesy of our friends at the John Locke Foundation. A full account of Dr. Stoops's posts, or him mentioned as a credible source, are listed here in BCN.

The teacher pay discussion should continue

    In 2013, the N.C. General Assembly established the North Carolina Educator Effectiveness and Compensation Task Force to "make recommendations on whether to create a statewide model of incentives to encourage the recruitment and retention of highly effective educators and to consider the transition to an alternative compensation system for educators." On Monday, April 14, the task force met for the fourth and final time.

    During the meeting, teacher and administrator appointees, as well as Democratic task force members, confronted Republicans about the contents of the group's final recommendations to the General Assembly, a fact that likely delighted the mainstream media and their liberal allies.

    It is, however, simplistic (and frankly, lazy) to characterize tension between legislators and appointees as merely a clash of ideologies. Rather, the fact that both sides "talked past each other" throughout the discussion suggests that their inability to see eye-to-eye had much to do with fundamental disagreements about the terms of the debate.

    Generalities and specifics

    Some of the public school appointees complained that the final recommendations outlined general principles, rather than specific policy recommendations. Yet, it is common for committees and task forces, particularly those that convene only a handful of times, to issue reports that offer a broad framework or starting point for legislators to develop and propose bills during forthcoming legislative sessions.

    Indeed, the Educator Effectiveness and Compensation Task Force met only four times. Had the final recommendations offered the specific policy recommendations desired by some members of the task force, they would have complained that there was insufficient testimony to warrant specific recommendations. And they would have been correct!

    Parts and wholes

    The co-chairs of the task force, Rep. Rob Bryan and Sen. Jerry Tillman, reminded members of the task force that state legislators are responsible for the distribution of resources to all areas of state government, not just K-12 public schools. Most of the teachers, administrators, and Democratic members of the task force chose to disregard this fact. Their comments focused on enlarging the education budget regardless of other budget priorities.

    It is easy to champion multi-million dollar increases for public schools in isolation from the rest of the budget. It is much more difficult to determine where the money should come from when all of the state's responsibilities are taken into account.

    Emotions and reason

    According to more than one task force member, it's all about the children. While this sentiment delivers a firm tug on the heartstrings, it is hardly the best starting point for a policy debate. Without a doubt, legislators of all stripes love children. But lawmakers do not need to love children in order to craft sound education policy. And, by the way, they do not hate children if they decide to pursue a policy direction that is different than, say, the "spend now and ask questions later" plan supported by most public school advocacy groups and the mainstream media.

    Simplicity and complexity

    Speaking of love and hate rhetoric, during the task force meeting, Democrat Rep. Tricia Cotham proclaimed, "It comes down to a few simple questions: Do we value children? Do we value teachers? Do we value education as an economic driver?" No, education policy does not come down to a few simple questions. It never has and never will. There are no easy answers, particularly for a task force that met only four times.

    Rep. Horn recognized that crafting specific policy recommendations required additional information, expert testimony, and discussion. As a result, he tried to extend the life of the task force, a proposal that received a chilly reception from some members of the group. I think Rep. Horn's idea was a good one. Hopefully his colleagues in the legislature agree and during the upcoming session approve language that would preserve the fruitful debate initiated by the task force.

    Facts and Stats

    North Carolina Educator Effectiveness and Compensation Task Force Membership

    Co-Chairs

    Rep. Rob Bryan
    Sen. Jerry W. Tillman

    Legislative Members

    Rep. Tricia Ann Cotham
    Rep. George Graham
    Rep. D. Craig Horn
    Sen. Ben Clark
    Sen. Clark Jenkins
    Sen. Dan Soucek

    Public Members

    Mr. Timothy D. Barnsback
    Ms. Leah Carper
    Mrs. Rebecca Fagge
    Dr. Rebecca Garland
    Ms. Judy Kidd
    Dean Ellen McIntyre
    Mr. Richard J. Nixon
    Dr. Michael Putney
    Mrs. Kim Robertson
    Mr. Bryan Shoemaker

    Acronym of the Week
    NCGA -- North Carolina General Assembly

    Quote of the Week

    "When you only have a limited amount of money, where do you start?"

    -- Sen. Jerry Tillman, quoted in WRAL's April 14 article, "Teacher pay report gets chilly reception"


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