CHARLOTTE, N.C. — We've seen North Carolina educators march before -- walking out of their classrooms en masse, demanding better pay and better benefits. Soon, we could see them take to the proverbial picket lines.
State law bans public school teachers from striking, but members of the lead lobbying group in North Carolina are gauging whether there is support for what they're calling extended collective work stoppages. Educators are considering staying home from school for up to 10 days.
A survey is circulating to teachers around the state, asking them how many days of work they'd be willing to miss to try to force lawmakers to give them better pay raises and benefits.
Members of a Charlotte-area teachers union said they did not want to back down now.
Right now, lawmakers remain at a stalemate. Republicans are offering teachers a 3.9% raise over two years -- drastically less than the 8% Governor Roy Cooper initially sought.
"We should be highly respected by our government and stop having to beg for our due pay raises," one woman said.
The result: North Carolina teachers are getting the step increases that were already in place -- and nothing more.
