‘Our kids can’t wait,’ Buncombe County, Asheville City schools staff fight for higher pay

By Taylor Thompson

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Educators from Buncombe County and Asheville City schools joined forces Monday to rally for higher pay.

Educators from both districts, along with parents and community allies, called for immediate action by Asheville City Schools Board of Education, Buncombe County Schools Board of Education and Buncombe County commissioners to raise wages because the students cannot wait for the staffing crisis to worsen.

Buncombe County Association of Educators president Shanna Peele said the demand for more pay has garnered more than 2,400 signatures from staff from both school districts along with community supporters.

“Currently, all educators are struggling to put food on the table. Many are working two or three jobs just to get by. And many are below the living wage,” Peele said.

According to a recent Just Economics report, the 2023 living wage rate for Buncombe County has increased to $20.10.

Peele said school district classified staff make well below that — at about $16 and some change.

She said they’re asking for educators’ pay to be updated to the minimum living wage of $20.10. But they also want the districts to get a Just Economics living wage certification so wages can be adjusted as the area’s living wage increases.

Peele also explained the local supplement in Buncombe County and Asheville is far less than other school systems.

The local supplement is paid on top of the salary and is set by the school boards and funded by the county commission.

“Our school boards need to make a strong ask for all these needs, and then our county commissioners need to follow through on that ask by funding it,” Peele said.

She said these funding needs are more critical than ever as school districts are bleeding educators out of the classroom, buses and cafeteria.

Peele said there are students who aren’t able to make it to classes on a regular basis because there isn’t anyone to drive them to school, and there have been multiple classrooms that haven’t had a consistent teacher all year.

“This is affecting our kids and they need us to step up in a big way and to do it now,” she said.

Asheville City Schools Association of Educators president Daniel Withrow said the district is in a situation where the pay for working in schools is outstripping the cost of living in the community.

“None of us are doing this to get rich, but this is our job, and we need to be able to afford to live where we work,” he said.

Withrow said Monday’s rally was part of a year-long effort to increase the pay for educators in both school systems. He said they’ve spoken with school board members as well as county commissioners and they all know how important this issue is.

This is more than a matter of people’s livelihoods because what happens now will determine the fate of this community for decades because these students are the future.

“The education they are getting in school today is going to affect them for the rest of their lives,” Withrow said.

He said they need all three bodies — both boards of education and county commissioners — to come together and figure out how to make these pay increases happen.

Educators at the rally expressed their stances, too.

Glen Arden Elementary School librarian LeeAnn Smith said staff members are being asked to do more and more with fewer resources and they’re all simply tired of it. She said it’s about more than just the curriculum they teach.

“In addition to being educators, we hug children and love them and help them have good nutrition, and we also act as nurses and confidants and encouragers,” Smith said.

Buncombe County Schools teacher Aimee Gaston held up her sign “Our kids can’t wait” at the rally.

She said these kids are the future and they deserve more than what teachers are being paid.

“It’s time that teachers start speaking up and let their voices be heard. We’re the ones in the classroom, we’re the ones doing the fieldwork,” Buncombe County Schools teacher Emily Turknett said.

Ana Hernandez, a teacher for Asheville City Schools, said there are many teachers having to work two or three jobs to try and make it.

“A lot has been asked from us, and I think what we want is the same — just equal fairness of what you ask from us, you also should just pay us,” Hernandez said.

Peele and Withrow said it was not a coincidence that they held the rally the night before Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ first meeting of the month.

They said while they’re all in this together, they wanted the pay increase to be fresh in commissioners’ minds.

Withrow said the way it will work is that each school board will present a budget to commissioners and explain what they need the money for and what they’ll spend it on. Then, the county commission will allocate money to each of the districts.

He said the commission’s role is to decide how much money to allocate for each district, and the school board’s job is to present the budget that will pay educators properly.

The goal is not let up on the gas pedal to get these educators the pay raise they deserve.

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