Dear Public Education Supporter,
It has been an unprecedented, hard, long nine months for all of us, especially for those who face severe economic hardships. None of us could have imagined the year we have just experienced as we tried to keep our public schools operating during a pandemic! As we look to 2021 with renewed commitment to our public schools, we wanted to share our accomplishments with you below.
Your financial support allowed us to accomplish in 2020:
- We hosted or presented more than 45 webinars since the shutdown in mid-March.
- We organized and hosted two candidate forums for NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, moderated by WRAL reporters and live streamed on their website.
- We held a virtual event with our partners, the NC PTA and the Public School Forum of NC: A Conversation About Public Education With Governor Roy Cooper.
- We joined with other education advocates to launch a statewide initiative dedicated to fulfilling the promise of the Leandro case: Every Child NC.
- We reached over 100k North Carolina citizens using our weekly newsletters and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube).
The new year will bring NC many great financial challenges as a result of COVID-19 but those challenges must not stop us from adequately funding our public schools. That is our calling for 2021: we must not allow budget cuts to harm our students and educators.
When the new North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) convenes in January, we must continue to advocate for increasing per pupil funding, raising teacher salaries to the national average, and increasing funding to replace crumbling infrastructure (especially in rural North Carolina).
We will also be strident in the work to increase the number of school counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses needed to address the significant physical and mental health needs of our students, all of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic and the isolation of remote learning.
As we near the year’s end, let us also remember and recognize the incredible job our educators have done in the face of unprecedented adversity. We are so grateful to serve this community of educators and witness the amazing work they are doing for our children. They deserve our praise, respect, and support!
The upcoming legislative session will be tough but you can count on us to remain steadfast in advocating for a unified, well-funded system of public education to prepare each child for productive citizenship.
To continue our important work, we need your financial support. As you make your final 2020 donations, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Public Schools First NC.
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Thank you for your help during this difficult year, our work would not be possible without your continued support and generosity.
Sincerely,
Yevonne Brannon, PhD
Chair, Board of Directors
