CMAE voices support for Cooper's veto, urges lawmakers to negotiate

Voicing support for Governor Roy Cooper's veto at a CMAE press conference were (left to right): Courtney Stallman, Amanda Thompson, Melissa Easley, Rep. John Autry, Justin Parmenter, Randolph Frierson, Sen. Jeff Jackson, Sen. Joyce Waddell, Pat Naylor, Winifred Muhammad, and Lakisha Mills.

 CMAE voiced its support for Governor Roy Cooper's veto of a new legislative proposal that would raise some educators' salaries at the expense of others.

In a press conference at the CMAE office, CMAE members Randolph Frierson, Winifred Muhammad, Lakisha Mills, Amanda Thompson, Justin Parmenter, Courtney Stallman, Pat Naylor, and Melissa Easley were joined by Senator Jeff Jackson, Senator Joyce Waddell, and Rep. John Autry.

Representing the CMAE Government Relations Committee, Frierson urged lawmakers to "stand up to bullying, to stand strong for public schools and our students. We ask our elected representatives to stand against dishonest tricks and dishonest bargains that offer dishonest incentives with strings attached and that leave our education support personnel behind."


Frierson's written remarks, and coverage of other speakers' remarks, are below. (With apologies, the video of Senator Waddell's remarks was lost in the digital transfer process.)

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Good afternoon, my name is Randolph Frierson. I have been an educator in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools for 18 years. I’m here today to represent the Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators and the CMAE Government Relations Committee, on behalf of President Lawrence Brinson. I have a few brief remarks before recognizing our guests.

Students who attend public schools across North Carolina, and who study the history of our state and its government, learn that the members of the North Carolina General Assembly have one primary responsibility. That responsibility is to provide the necessary resources that maintain the essential obligations and institutions of our state. It is an awesome responsibility.

To meet that responsibility, the state’s Constitution equips the members of the General Assembly with a power that it affords to no other citizen, or group of citizens. That is the power to raise the revenues that are necessary to maintain the essential obligations and institutions of our state.

Every woman and man who runs for election to the State House or the State Senate knows this, or should know it. And every lawmaker takes an oath of office to faithfully discharge this responsibility.

Neither the state Constitution nor the oath of office requires our legislators to pit one essential obligation or institution against any other, or to shortchange one for the benefit of another.

Yet this is what our legislative majority has done. Educators, and the students and families we serve, have had enough of this game.

Students in North Carolina’s public schools should not be held hostage to tax cuts for corporate special interests. Meeting the needs of our students is an essential obligation of our state government, because their future is North Carolina’s future.

Likewise, educators in our public schools, education support personnel, school district employees, families, and communities, should not be held hostage to $3.6 billion in tax cuts for corporate special interests and wealthy donors. Maintaining a highly-qualified, highly-skilled, competent, capable workforce is also an essential obligation of our state government, because the work accomplished by that workforce is the building of North Carolina’s future.

But just as public education is an essential institution, so is public health (and health care), and public safety, and every other institution of our state that serves public purposes and the public good.

Devoting $3.6 billion in tax cuts to increase private profit for corporate interests and wealthy donors is not a constitutional responsibility of the North Carolina General Assembly.

Speaking on behalf of members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators, I can assure you that we do our jobs. We do our duty. We meet our obligations. And we expect our lawmakers to do their jobs, to do their duties, to meet their obligations.

We also pay attention. We saw other public employees receive a five percent raise, plus five bonus days of annual leave.

We saw Governor Cooper propose an average nine percent raise for educators. And we saw the legislative leadership propose a raise of only 3.9 percent, while it devoted $3.6 billion to tax cuts for corporate special interests and wealthy donors.

We saw Governor Cooper veto the legislature’s budget, and we saw him try to negotiate a compromise with an average 8.5 percent raise for educators.

But we saw the legislative majority do nothing with the governor’s offer to negotiate. Instead, we saw the House pull a trick on September 11 to override the governor’s veto. And we have watched the Senate majority wait for an opportunity to do the same.

These are not the behaviors of men and women who would faithfully discharge their constitutional duties, or who would uphold their oath of office. They are the behaviors of politicians who would score political points against the governor rather than to serve the needs of our citizens, or to help our students succeed.

Students, parents, educators, and our communities deserve better service than this. We deserve a better deal.

So we’re here today to urge lawmakers to stand up to bullying, to stand strong for public schools and our students. We ask our elected representatives to stand against dishonest tricks and dishonest bargains that offer dishonest incentives with strings attached and that leave our education support personnel behind.

Lawmakers who say they care about students in public schools should demonstrate that they care also about the food service workers, the clerical workers, the teacher assistants, the custodial workers, the buildings and grounds workers, the bus drivers and transportation workers.

While we continue to do our job, do our duty, and meet our obligations to the children we serve, inside and outside the classroom, we cannot be silent about the dishonesty of the legislative majority.

It is dishonest to say that the legislature can afford to dole out $3.6 billion in tax cuts to corporate special interests and wealthy donors, but that the legislature cannot afford a decent raise for educators and education support personnel. Our students deserve better.