Educators rally in Martin County for WNC schools

MARTIN COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) - The North Carolina Association of Educators are rallying in support of those in the western part of our state who are still reeling from tropical storm Helene’s impact.

Western North Carolina is now in recovery mode following tropical storm Helene, and while homes and businesses were damaged, schools also took a major hit.

“Kids are not ok out there,” Martin County District Two Board of Education member Pat Nelson said. “Kids are suffering.”

That’s why educators and supporters with the North Carolina Association of Educators, also known as the NCAE, rallied Wednesday morning outside of South Creek Middle School in Martin County.

Torian Spruill is a 6th-grade teacher at the school and says it is important to fight for public funding to stay in public schools.

“Our scholars deserve safer sturdier schools, we deserve the resources that we need because if the children are our future, we need to invest in them,” Spruill said.

The NCAE is now calling on lawmakers to pass legislation to support teachers and public schools with education-related needs. Some of those needs include ensuring no educator suffers unnecessary financial hardship and providing calendar flexibility for impacted school districts.

Nelson says she was in Raleigh last week with the goal of speaking with legislators about the need for public schools.

“Public schools are very important because they reach all children. Children that wouldn’t have an education otherwise and we seem to be moving away from public schools,” Nelson said.

The NCAE says by taking quick action, state lawmakers can ease the burden on educators, students, and families, many of those who may have lost everything.

“To let the teachers know there that we do support them and we are praying for them and we’re hoping that change will come about that we will get the funding that we deserve,” Supporter Heisha Matthewson-Lynch said.

According to NCAE, there were a total of 25 ‘Schools Stand Together’ rallies and walk-ins held across different schools in the state.