Being a teacher in New York City public schools has made me reflect on my eight years as an educator in North Carolina. It’s now clear to me how much better off I am, thanks to having a union.
We had a form of representation in North Carolina but it could only go so far. We were at the mercy of the administration demands. I had to turn in lesson plans that I never got feedback on, but if I ever missed submitting one — which I never did — administration would be sure to give feedback on that.
The length of our school day was whatever the administration wanted it to be. We could have staff meetings at 7 a.m. and a program that goes to 7 p.m. We had to eat lunch with our children and take them out to recess, which I really wouldn’t have minded if I had my allotted prep periods. I got so used to not having a prep period that when I got to New York, it was like, “Oh my goodness, I actually have time to do the things I need to do to make my classroom run.”
And, of course, the pay was terrible in North Carolina — I started in 2008, and in year five, I was still being paid the same as in my first year. You don’t get a bump in pay for having a master’s degree. Health benefits were expensive and they went up every year. If they could find a way to make us work for free in North Carolina, they would.
When I came to New York City three years ago, I felt instantly supported. In North Carolina, all the professional development was about how to give a test, not how to make you a better teacher. Now every year I’m learning something.
I didn’t feel North Carolina had the best intentions for our students in public schools. But in New York City, everyone advocates for children. Everywhere I turn, the UFT is always spotlighting teachers, students, families and school communities.
We’re here doing our jobs, and the union is fighting for us sun up to sun down.
I loved being a teacher in North Carolina and the survival techniques that I learned helped in the long run. But I didn’t realize how unfair it was there until I left. Now that I teach in New York City, I would never go back there.
Aimee Thomas is a teacher at PS 449 in the Bronx.
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