NORTH CAROLINA SENATOR RAVEN BLAND

217 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON, DC 20510

February 29, 2016

North Carolina Senator Raven Bland
217 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510

Dear Republican Minority Leader,

I am writing to request a position in the Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee. After
looking at the available committees, this committee would greatly benefit not only my state of
North Carolina, but also, strengthen our position at the federal and local level.
The biggest issue amongst my constituents is education. More specifically, North Carolina has
declared war on education and teachers rights in my state and that is one reason why I must
be on this committee. The national average starting teacher salary in the 2012-2013 school
year was $36, 141. New Jersey had the highest average teaching salary, which starts at $48,
631. Although this average is an outliner compared to other state averages, many northern
states along with California has averages around 40K. Seeing these numbers, I cannot blame
the North Carolina people for declaring war on our government. The North Carolina teacher
salary average starts at a mere $30, 778. Imagine the outrage. Beyond North Carolina, not one
southern state had averages around 40K, most of them barely reached 35K. When looking at
teachers salaries over the past decade, there has been a national decline of about 3.5%.
States such as Wyoming, New York, North Dakota, Massachusetts, and Iowa experienced large
increases, but 34 other states experienced major declines, including North Carolina. According
to the National Educational Association, North Carolinas teachers salaries have declined by
over 17%. Other southern states like Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida have declined at
about 6.5%. This does not look good on the party. This is more than an attack on education,
this is an attack on the Republican party. There is a common link between low teacher salaries
and southern states- having a Republican governor. The only two southern states that makes
over the national average are Louisiana and Virginia and they have Democratic governors. We
are giving the Democrats ammunition to remove us from these states. The only way that
Governor McCrory and I along with the local NC government can hold onto the NC vote is to
solve the low wages for teachers.
Education is one of the most important issues for my North Carolina constituents. I am
requesting to be apart of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee to reverse our
partys association with low wages for teachers and, therefore, little respect or appreciation for
the most important people in our youths lives.
Works Cited

Page
2 Collective Bargaining/Member Advocacys Teacher
2012-2013 Average Starting Teacher Salaries by State.
NEA

Salary Database. http://www.nea.org/home/2012-2013-average-starting-teacher-salary.html

Rankings of the States 2014 and Estimates of School Statistics 2015. NEA Research.
http://www.nea.org/home/rankings-and-estimates-2014-2015.html.