Teacher talk: 'We deserve a livable wage'

To Natalia Mejia, teachers should be treated like the professionals they are.

In the latest installment of our Teachers Talk series, the ESL teacher at C.C. Griffin STEM Magnet Middle School and NCCAT Empower NC Beginning Teacher of the Year notes how North Carolina ranked 34thin average teacher pay and 46th in beginning teacher pay last year.¹

Other educated professionals don’t have to work a second job, she says.

“But that is the norm for teachers. As professionals, we deserve to have a livable wage and to be able to continue to pursue the work that we believe makes a difference,” Mejia says.

“When we have competitive pay, we find that our learning outcomes improve, because students have teachers that stay in school – teaching.”

Growing up, she says, she had a friend who wanted to teach but decided not to, because that friend couldn’t help their siblings through college on what a teacher is paid.

“These are the choices that many people have to make as they try to help support their families. We deserve teacher pay to be raised. You cannot put a price tag on giving students the sound, basic education that they deserve. And this can be done through the power of legislation,” Mejia says.

“I want to remind educators and the public to go out and vote. Our voices matter. And they deserve to be heard.”

¹ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article287063385.html;https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank/teacher.