THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606080393
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER McMENAMIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 108 lines
Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. made a swing across the Outer Banks Friday, campaigning for a fourth term and shaking hands by the hundreds at an outdoor fish fry and at the formal opening of ``The Lost Colony.''
He started the afternoon with teachers, seeking their thoughts on what they would like done to improve education and asking them to support his proposals.
And he urged them to call state Senate leader Marc Basnight of Manteo and tell him they support Hunt's proposed 7 percent pay raise for educators.
In the give-and-take session that went on for an hour, the teachers talked about smaller class sizes, salary hikes and the governor's emphasis on education.
Those were the most frequently raised issues at Friday's ``town meeting'' between Dare County educators and the North Carolina native introduced as ``the real education governor.''
``What I want us to do is to use an hour here today - including introductions - to have an exchange, a real town meeting,'' Hunt told the 200 or so teachers and other school employees who assembled in the Manteo Middle School auditorium less than an hour after finishing the school year.
``I'm going to say some things, and then I want to listen to you,'' the governor said. ``This is my time to learn.''
Sporting a red necktie covered with cartoon-like children, Hunt repeatedly expressed his thanks and appreciation for the members of the audience.
``We've been talking in Raleigh about school buildings,'' he said. ``And buildings are important, but teachers are more important. There is nothing as important as good teachers.''
The ``amens'' and cheers that rang out indicated that the governor was telling the audience just what the teachers wanted to hear.
``There is nobody who has better ideas about what to do to improve schools than teachers, and public leaders ought to listen to them more often,'' Hunt said. ``Well, I've been listening, and I've been trying to respond.''
Hunt spent the next 20 minutes highlighting initiatives he has already taken to improve schools, including his support of laws that make it easier to expel disruptive students and a new law that makes carrying a gun to school a felony.
``For a while we went along and said, `Oh, we mustn't take these (disruptive) children out of the classroom.' Let me tell you, we've gone too far in that direction,'' he said, drawing instant applause from the audience. ``We must have orderly classrooms where teachers can teach and students can learn. If they're misbehaving, we didn't take them out, they took themselves out.
``We don't want to put them on the street. We want to put them in alternative schools where they'll learn the three R's and respect.''
The governor hit on a subject sensitive to the teachers, many of whom cited disciplinary problems and a lack of respect from students as problems.
Recognizing the upcoming election and the ring of campaign promises in his remarks, Hunt called this a year to set goals:
Making schools safer by bringing uniformed officers to all high schools and many middle schools and introducing alternative schools in every county of North Carolina.
Increasing North Carolina teachers' salaries to the national average by the year 2000.
Focusing on having students master the basics.
Bringing students into the school system earlier through his Smart Start program.
Hunt and members of the audience stressed the importance of more competitive salaries for state teachers.
``Last week when I was talking about this, I said that we were 39th in teacher pay,'' Hunt told the audience. ``I can't say that today, because we've slipped to 42nd.
``North Carolina is behind Alabama,'' he said, drawing moans from the audience. ``South Carolina is 38th - four places ahead of us. I want this legislature to do something big and important to raise teachers' salaries, and I'm recommending a 7 percent increase.''
Hunt drew chuckles from the crowd when he made a comparison between education and collegiate athletics.
``We wouldn't settle for 42nd in college basketball, would we? We ought not settle for it in this.''
Others took issue with the governor's apparent request for work in return for the salary increases.
``If we want a pay raise, you say, `Go out and work,' explained Steve Basnight, a a Manteo High School teacher of 10 years as well as the football coach. ``Every time we hear we are going to get a raise, it says, `We want you to meet this and this and this.' You are talking to the No. 1 school in North Carolina, and we do that every day.
But Moncie ``Punk'' Daniels, a recently retired teacher and coach from Manteo Middle School, suggested that salary increases might not be enough.
Describing himself as a ``double-dipper'' who spent 20 years in the Air Force and then 20 years teaching, Daniels asked for more complete employment packages to attract - and keep - career-long teachers.
``My teacher retirement is one-third of my Air Force retirement,'' he said. ``That (the Air Force retirement) could be a better package to present these young teachers as far as making a career out of teaching. Give them something tangible at the end of a certain period.
``And you say, `Well, you had combat (in the Air Force).' '' Turning to the audience, Daniels asked, ``How many of y'all have had combat?''
The audience responded with more applause and cheers.
As the upbeat meeting came to a close, Hunt ended with another shot of optimism.
``I want to leave you with one word,'' he said. ``There is hope. We are making some progress. We aren't where we want to be or ought to be, but we aren't done yet.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
'`This is my time to learn,'' said Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. as he
opened a ``town meeting'' on Friday with about 200 school employees
at Manteo Middle School. Hunt listened as teachers talked about
smaller classes, better pay and the governor's emphasis on
education. by CNB