Assistants Lobby For Their Jobs

Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 3, 2011

Teacher assistants are concerned – and for good reason.
As states and local boards of education and county commissions discuss upcoming budget cuts, those jobs are on some lists. At least that’s what they’ve been told.
“We have been instructed and encouraged to keep it on your minds,” Traci Welch, a teacher who relies on assistants to do her job, told Davie County commissioners earlier this month.
“They stay as long as they’re needed, often on their own time,” Welch said of the assistants. “Without teacher assistants, teachers can’t keep up the excellent work.”
County Board Chair Mark Jones asked if lobbying the legislature was working.
Welch said they were told that the assistants could be cut from the budget. “It’s imperative we keep this disturbing situation at the forefront.”
“We are being told there will be cuts,” said Andrea Cranfill, a teacher’s assistant from Mocksville. “When you think about the budgets, think of the employees who would lose their jobs. Think about those things, not just …