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The following is a Counterpoint:

By Ryan Monson

Regarding Charles Davenport’s May 31 column: I can’t recall ever reading an article with so many skewed “facts.” I would like to focus on four of them.

“Fact”: Teachers are whining because they are getting a .5 percent pay cut.

Truth: Teachers are not simply concerned with a 0.5 percent pay cut; they are concerned with the state taking $1 billion away from education next year, which will mean teacher layoffs, increased class sizes, a 4.5 percent pay cut, and many other cuts that will negatively affect teachers and students.

“Fact”: Teachers work 25 percent less that the average person and get compensated more per hour than engineers.

Truth: If you look at the minimum required hours for teachers you could make this claim; however, no effective teacher works these hours. After school I put in an average of two hours each night. I also spend about eight hours each weekend doing schoolwork. My average work week during the school year is more than 60 hours.

Over the course of a year I work 420 hours more than a person who works a normal, 40-hour work week and this doesn’t count time working when I am on “vacation.”

“Fact”: Teaching requires no special skills as shown by the success of home-schooling and private schools which require no teaching “credentials.”

Truth: In home schools and private schools, parents have a vested interest in their child’s education; the demographic of the children is different; and classes are typically small. In public school you often get little or no parental support; many students have no desire to be in school; and classes are much larger. Teaching a class of 30 unmotivated students with parents who are difficult to reach requires an extreme amount of specialized skills.

“Fact”: North Carolina’s teacher compensation ranks 14th in the country.

Truth: This statistic comes from a state political organization that skewed the numbers to get the results it wanted. A better statistic from teacherportal.com ranks North Carolina 23rd. North Carolina was once near the bottom of this pay scale and the students suffered because of it. Being in the top half attracts good teachers. Falling in rank will cause good teachers to leave, and hurt North Carolina’s children.

The writer lives in Randleman.