Governor delivers supplies to Carver Heights Elementary
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 15, 2017 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Students at Carver Heights Elementary greet Gov. Roy Cooper as he arrives at their school Thursday to deliver school supplies from a recent drive hosted by the State Employees Credit Union.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Gov. Roy Cooper speaks to students in Kimberly Whitfield's fifth-grade class after dropping off a box of school supplies at Carver Heights Elementary School Thursday.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Gov. Roy Cooper walks up a flight of stairs to deliver a box of school supplies to a classroom at Carver Heights Elementary School Thursday. The supplies came from a drive that was hosted by the State Employees Credit Union.
Gov. Roy Cooper delivered school supplies at Carver Heights Elementary School on Thursday, visiting two classrooms and spending 30 minutes talking with teachers about their concerns.
In between, he fielded questions about class size, funding teacher supplements and his desire to lift up the profession.
The purpose of his visit was to shine a light on the need for school supplies, often paid for out of pocket by teachers.
Cooper said he had proposed a $500 stipend for each teacher to offset the financial contribution educators make for their students. Legislators did not approve it, though, prompting his office to take the need on the road and raise awareness about the issue.
The effort had begun with Communities in Schools hosting school supply drives and helping with deliveries around the state. Communities Supporting Schools of Wayne County, which hosted the visit, was formerly a Communities in Schools agency.
Cooper arrived carrying a large box of school supplies, before greeting a contingent of students in the hallway and meeting school and local officials. He stopped in two classrooms -- Carey Hinnant's third-grade class and Kimberly Whitfield's fifth-grade class.
Then he visited a model classroom at the school, where he shared an update on other efforts for this community.
"We're still working hard on (Hurricane) Matthew recovery," he said. "It's been a year since that storm hit. We're still working all of the angles we can for federal relief and for state relief for these communities that were hit so hard, and here in Wayne County there were a number of them.
"We're going to continue to work with local leaders and with our bipartisan congressional delegation and with the legislature to work to provide relief."
The governor also responded to questions about the current political football -- class size reductions and rumblings that the original K-3 proposal may be expanded to include fourth and fifth grades. In a climate when there is already a teacher shortage, the question remains as to how this potential change might be funded.
One problem with legislative funding, he explained, is that it is not usually increased enough to deal with the number of personnel required by schools. Oftentimes the burden is handed to the local level, forcing them to determine where cuts are made.
Classes need to be smaller but personnel are also needed to accomplish this, he said.
"When you've got 22 or 23 elementary school kids, often many of them coming in with different levels of achievement, one kid may not have ever held a pencil or paper or can't read, another kid is reading at third-grade level when they come into kindergarten, and the teacher's got all of that to deal with," he said. "Teacher assistants are very important so that (students) can be taught in a way that helps with their speed and helps where they are."
Increasing taxes is not the answer, he said. His recommendation is to stop the corporate tax breaks and breaks for the wealthy, a concept that most business people understand needs to happen, he added.
Teacher pay and low teacher supplements are also a challenge, he said, especially in light of the diminishing numbers of students becoming educators.
It is important to send the message that public education is valued and so are teachers, Cooper said. Educators should be paid adequately, he said, with efforts made to create an environment where they can teach and provide fair assessments to measure the progress of the students.
Likewise, he suggested that "we don't just slap a letter grade on the school, which really doesn't tell the story about the success of the school." That would go a long way toward attracting more to the profession, he said.
A lot of positive things are happening at schools like Carver Heights, he said, which should be encouraged and continued.
He seeks to meet with teachers privately, he says, to get "unvarnished opinions" of their thoughts and feelings.
"Sometimes I just open with a question -- in a perfect world, what would you want? What would you want your school setting to be and what would you want your atmosphere to be?
"We rarely talk about salaries. I think it's understood that the state needs to do better."
In most cases, teachers aren't seeking things for themselves but for the children they serve.
"Education is the key to a lot of things -- economic development, it's a key to having fewer people that the sheriff has to deal with, it's the key to fighting crime," he said. "We still have a lot to do in this state. I think we're ready to move forward."
Principal Cortrina Smith, in her second year at the helm, said it was an honor to have their special guest.
"We needed it," she said, "because we're making a difference here at Carver Heights. We're pretty much making a 180-degree change in the culture, the culture and climate of the teachers and staff.
"Our goal is to get out of this low-performing status and it's up to us, our students and the staff."
As teachers exited the media center, they enthused about their time with Cooper. Among topics they broached were teacher pay and testing, as well as support in such areas as teacher assistants and more resources.
Several said they were relieved to know these were universal concerns shared by their counterparts around the state.
"It's nice to know it's not just us," said Kelly Schatzman, a fourth-grade teacher.
Third-grade teacher Mary Maurer said she felt the governor was receptive to their comments.
"He rolled up his sleeves and got on our level," she said. "He was very down to earth. He really cares about the educators in our state. He listened to everything we had to say."
Hinnant said it was almost as if Cooper "knew" their sentiments before they were expressed.
"He was pushing for us, to help us," she said.
Maurer said she appreciated the opportunity to have their voices heard. But changes are still needed.
"It's encouraging," she said. "But we would like to see some action behind it."
Fourth-grade teacher Deborah Copeland said she thought the session with the governor went well.
"He was real relaxed, seems to be up on things," she said. "Education's not a foreign language to him. He's hands on, and that's impressive."