Do NC businesses care about our schools?

By Ginny Gaylor
Public Ed Works
additional reporting from Amy Cockerham
Public Ed Works

Businesses love North Carolina. It’s how the state earned the national ranking of No. 1 for business. But it seems many of those businesses don’t understand that maintaining the state’s great business environment depends on a well-educated population.

More and more, public schools are being neglected and expected to make due with less and less, while delivering even better results. That’s something that can’t be maintained. And some parents are no longer willing to accept that.

“I was done with people not caring about our school and our staff and our students,” Lisa Rozier  said.

Rozier is a parent of two students at Lynn Road Elementary. For several years, her frustration has grown over persistent HVAC problems at the school. At best, the school was able to provide temporary fixes rather than lasting solutions. 

But, Wake County schools aren’t alone in their HVAC troubles. Multiple NC counties, including Brunswick, Catawba, Durham and New Hanover have reported issues keeping classrooms cool enough to be conducive to learning.

The problems became especially concerning when parts of the school reached temperatures in the low 90s. Rozier filed a report with OSHA, publicly raised concerns on social media and reached out to her local representatives. 

One of those representatives, Phil Rubin visited Lynn Road Elementary. His visit revealed a striking contrast: dedicated educators are doing excellent work despite serious facility problems. 

Rubin praised the administration and teachers and said students were engaged and learning, but noted that classroom and office temperatures exceeded 80 degrees, with some areas so hot that staff and students had to relocate. He emphasized that the school’s strong results are being achieved “in spite of” the facility problems and that students and educators deserve better.

“Strikingly different things going on,” he explains. “One is that Lynn Road Elementary is doing incredible work to educate kids … And then I also saw that the thermostat in a bunch of those classrooms was over 80.”

A Wake County Public School spokesperson said the latest HVAC issue is in the process of repairs. A new custom part has been ordered and the school is operating with a temporary unit.

Rozier’s broader concern is that parents should not have to become “the squeaky wheel” to ensure schools provide safe, functional learning environments. 

“I think there’s so much value to public education. I grew up in public education, and I want that for my kids,” Rozier shared.

Rozier reached out to the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce on September 4. To date, she has received no official response. She was, however, accidently copied on an internal Chamber response that said “I believe this yet another salvo that we are going to have [sic] get in front of before they further the narrative.” She interprets this as they are trying to squash her story.

She explains, “The reason I reached out to the Commerce is because I… from my understanding they have a lot of lobbying to do, you know, with the legislative branch, and, you know, the city, and how money gets moved around, and, you know, who we can support, and how can we bring businesses into the city of Raleigh, um, and the state, from a business perspective, if we have failing schools.”

Rubin also argued that the business community should be more engaged in public education because strong schools are essential to a thriving economy. Rubin said, “Having quality schools is how you have a thriving economy, which is really good for the business community” He pointed to North Carolina’s relatively low level of education funding and said inadequate investment is ultimately bad for business.

A major theme of the discussion is funding responsibility. Rubin cited $600 million in costs that Wake County must cover for services he says the state is supposed to fund, with more than $500 million related to education. He argued that if the state fulfilled those obligations, Wake County could both address facility needs such as HVAC repairs and reduce property taxes without cutting services.

Rozier concludes, “Education, it shouldn’t be partisan. It’s both sides. And our children are not voters, so they shouldn’t be affected by any of this nonsense.”

Corporate tax rates in North Carolina currently sit at 2% and will be eliminated in 2030. Most North Carolinians (77%) are not in favor of this approach as a way to build a strong economy. 

Businesses need to think about the future and not just their bottom lines. North Carolina’s public schools made the state what it is today. If they want to continue to thrive, they might want to consider investing in the state that offers them such a great environment to run their businesses. If they don’t, they will have no one to blame but themselves.