As part of her opposition to a bill that would expand North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program, Mecklenburg County Democrat Senator Natasha Marcus said “This is no longer going to be a program that was as originally designed. Instead it’s going to be one for relatively high-income families to send their kids to private schools even if they can and probably are now affording private school from their own funds.” (emphasis added)
Marcus further noted that a family making $70,000 a year would be above the state’s median household income of $50,000.
Starting teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no additional certification make $35,000 per year in North Carolina, without the local supplement that many receive.
So a household with two teachers in their first year would earn $70,000 – the very amount that Marcus described as “relatively high income” and able to afford private school tuition “from their own funds.”
I wonder if the Red4Ed crowd or NCAE has any thoughts on this?
Moreover, many may recall the NC teacher who was featured on the cover of Time Magazine last September – NaShonda Cooke – who was supposedly emblematic of how woefully underpaid teachers in America are. Cooke’s salary? $69,165, which Cooke insisted was not a “living wage.”
I wonder what Cooke thinks of Marcus’ comments describing her salary as “relatively high income”?
And remember in Jan. 2018 when Superintendent Mark Johnson was scolded for saying $35k was “good money” for young people in their 20’s, when referring to starting teachers?
I’m sure those critics so offended by Johnson’s comments will also condemn Marcus for her insensitivity, right?
Marcus’ comments underscore the rank hypocrisy of progressives on the issue of education and school choice. When lobbying for votes and endorsements from the NCAE, they can simultaneously say that starting teacher salaries is insulting and below a “living wage,” while at the same time characterize the exact same income amount as “relatively high income” in order to deny families the power to choose where their child attends school.
