To the Board of Education: On May 16, thousands of teachers from around the state will rally in Raleigh to march for the future of public education in North Carolina. The goals of this march per the NCAE are fivefold:

• Significant investment in per-pupil spending

• A multi-year professional pay plan for educators

• Investing in the health and well-being of our students and making schools safer

• Fix our crumbling schools and large class sizes

• Prioritize classrooms and not corporate board rooms.

These goals are in line with the best interests of Rowan-Salisbury Schools. This rally is ultimately about the wellbeing of each student in each of our classrooms.

From my personal experience, RSS staff members are desperate for these reforms. They are frustrated with being asked to perform miracles amid a lack of resources and while being woefully underpaid. Because of a dearth of funding, this district is asking virtually all of its schools to perform better next year with reductions in staff due to “optimization.”

Many of Rowan-Salisbury’s teachers would readily participate in the rally if they felt that they were supported by their district.

Durham, Chapel-Hill, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s school boards have created an optional teacher workday to show their teachers — truly, their entire communities — that they support efforts to rally at the capitol in favor of the future of public education.

Please consider, this week of all weeks, showing RSS teachers that you appreciate them by encouraging them to stand up for the future of our district by making May 16th an optional teacher workday.

— Bob Johnsen

Salisbury