Special Education Session in N.C.

Yesterday Gov. Mike Easley called the N.C. General Assembly back into session, on this coming Wednesday, to decide whether or not to override his veto of a bill designed to address North Carolina’s teacher shortage.

It’s a little mid-week action in what would otherwise be a silent October at the legislature. The original bill, vetoed by Easley, would have allowed teachers who were deemed “highly qualified” in other states (according to federal guidelines) to have the same standing in North Carolina.

Easley was understandably concerned that North Carolina maintain high standards for its teachers. When one of the state’s most pressing problems is a lack of good teachers, especially in low-wealth school districts, it’s hard to criticize anyone who wants to see high standards maintained.

North Carolina welcomed more than 28,000 new students to school this year. Each year the state faces an increasing teacher shortage, with a growing gap between the number of teachers produced and the number needed.

So what’s next? The State Board of Education passed a compromise policy last week, relaxing the standards a bit in order to provide some incentive for teachers to come here and stay here.

With that compromise in place, it seems unlikely that the General Assembly will vote to override the governor’s veto.

Wouldn’t it be great, though, if the special session were being called to increase teacher pay, in order to provide some real incentive for good teachers to come to North Carolina?