a
bylbe Board of Directors of the
North Carolina Association of
. Education Instead, the Board
, approved five proposals design
ed to dramatize teacher concern
over public education needs.
The five proposals — includ
ing a mass rally hi Raleigh on
the day Governor Robert W.
Scott,presents his budget mes
sage to the General Assembly
— are designed to keep tehcher
concerns about the needs of ed
ucation before the General As
sembly and the public through
out the 1971 session.
The NCAE Board also direct
ed the Association’s Legislative
Commission to meet as soon
as possible to implement the
five proposals and to make other
plans to promote the Associa
tion’s legislative program.
Jerry Paschal, N€AE president,
said it was the feeling of the
board that the mass professional
holiday would be misinterpret
ed by many people since it would
involve the closing Of schools a
cross the state. He also noted
that NCAE Board felt that a
more comprehensive plan for
keeping the NCAE program be
fore the General Assembly
throughout the session is need
ed to assure that education gets
first priority.
Paschal said the NCAE Board
is tremendously concerned a
bout the inadequate salary re
quest made for educators by
the State Board of Education.
He noted that the State Board
request -would leave North Car
olina teacher salaries further be
* hind during the second year of
the upcoming biennium than
those salaries now are.
He said Tar Heel teacher’s
now lag an average of $1,091
behind the nation in terms of
average salary, and that the pro
gram proposed by the State
e opening day of General As
- mb been turned down
Board of Education i
this lag to $823 tL_ ,
of the biennium. (This --
erage teacher pay is $8200, ed
itor’s note).
“But even the most conser
vative estimates show that North
Carolina would fall $1,212 be.
bind the nation in 1872-73,” Pas
chal said, adding that such a
figure would be “one of the
largest gaps in history between
North Carolina and the nation.”
Hie request for the statewide
professional holiday came from
he Council of Progressive Local
Associations, a group of local
units Within the NCAE. The
CPLA is made up of some of
the Association’s larger units.
Paschal said the fact that
teachers generally consider the
salary proposals of the State
Board of Education inadequate
has led to demands that the
NCAE take positive steps to
dramatize teacher concern.
The State Board of Education
has asked far salary increases
for teachers of five per cent
for each year of the biennum.
In addition, the Board called for
adoption of a 18-month employ
ment period for teachers, a
move which would add to the
annual income of teachers. The
State Board projects an average
teacher salary in North Carolina
of $9,151 in 1971-72 if its pro
posals are approved. The av
erage would move to $9,561 in
1972-73, but the national aver
age is projected to be $10,773
that year.
In an attempt to dramatize
its concern, the NCAE Board
outlined the following program
A — flood of telegrams from
both teachers and lay citizens
to individual legislators, the Gov
ernor, the Lieutenant Governor,
and the Speaker of the House
on the opening day of the 1971;
General Assembly.
— A mass rally by NCAE
members and supporters in Ral
DA
:,v;
eigh on the day the Governor
presents his proposed budget to
the General Assembly.
, — A second and small rally
if Governor Robert Scott follows
past precedent and presents a
revised budget message to the
Assembly. ' l
— Establishment of an on
going program of Monday visits
to Raleigh,by educators, these
persons to meet with their leg
islatures to keep abreast of e
vents and to keep the profes
sion’s concern for educational
improvement foremost in the
minds of Assembly members.
— Formation of a special
Steering Committee from the
membership of the Association’s
Legislative Commission, this
on a weekly basis during the
session to review events and
plan strategy for the next week,
Paschal said the NCAE expects
(o be more* active in support of
its program in, 1971 than the
professional education associa
tions in North Carolina “have
ever been before.” He, said he
has never in his years fa public
EASYWAYTO APPLY TIRE CHAINS
With alittle “know-how” and practice, it can be done in 6 minutes,
without a jack and without getting your clothes dirty.
f
STEP NO. 1 Spread the chains on the ground
behind the rear wheels to remove tangles. Hooks
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the projecting teeth or cleats should be facing up.
STEP NO. 2 Gather the chains behind the tire so
they won't catch,the fender, and attach the end
links to the "chain applier,” a simple spring steel
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STEP NO. 3 Drive the car forward about one wheel
revolution, ao that the appller carries the chains
around the tire.
» , • '/. ' |*5, - - ' . *
Representative Fountain Lashes at
Coast Guard for Surrendering
Russian Seaman who Sought Asylum
Through many decades of
strife and turmoil, the Statue of
Iibery has stood! in New York
Harbor as a symbol of freedom
to the downtrodded and oppress
ed peoples of the world — a
beacon of liberty.
Inscribed on this magnificent
statute’s base are these words:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled messes yearn
ing to breathe free.
The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me.
I lift my (amp beside the
golden' door."
Those words from the pea of
Emma Lazarus came sharply to
my mind as the conf used and
deplorable story of the Lithuan
ian seaman, who sought and was
denied freedom from Russian
bondage, came to light.
We don’t even know for sure
the full name of this “tired,’
“homeless” man- who yearned
to breathe the precious kjr of
freedom — reportedly it’s
“Simas Ionovich Kudirka,” but
we do know that he desperately
I", ■ ? ■■ vvtr
!
m
ONE
HIGH
STANDARD
--P
r
be same
and the lack
port is undermining their faith
in the democratic process. He
said teachers have time after
time been told of their import
ance but have yet to see this
demonstrated in -the amount of
money they are paid1 for doing
one of society’s most important
tasks.
wanted such an opportunity. He
wanted it enough to risk his life
to get it. He wanted freedom
from the unbelievably harsh op
pression and regimentation of
his native land, Lithuania, which
is now under Russian control.
But, American officials refused
him this chance and that refusal
may cost him his life.
‘•‘Simas,”.the Lithuanian sea
man, is reported to have begged
and pleaded and to have fven
prayed to American citizens for
His pleas and prayers having
been ignored, he was forcibly
taken from our ship after a
bloody beating by his Commun
ist fellow seamen.
It’s completely understandable
why anyone from a captive na
tion would want to escape to
freedom in America.
But, it’s hard to understand
why the United States Coast
Guard and State Department,
apparently after hours of inde
cision, would allow Russians to
board one of our ships, to badly
beat .and drag back into human
bondage a man whose hopes and
dreams of freedom from tyran-.
ny had seemingly been achieved.
I’m told that the Coast Guard
drew a fine distinction in de
cidmg not to. .giysK^^^
tion: that if he had
the water first
the