Kashani 1

Nahim Kashani
Professor Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
2/10/15
Topic Proposal: Teachers Fighting for their Right
I will be discussing the controversial issues teachers are currently facing. Teachers all
over the country are beginning to speak out against mistreatment and revocation of long standing
teacher rights. Changes include no pay raise after obtaining a masters, no more tenure, and no
more career status. Tenure is a benefit given to eligible teachers which makes it so they cannot be
fired without legitimate reason. The controversy in this lies behind the belief that teacher tenure
makes it near impossible to fire a bad teacher. Career status is also a benefit eligible teachers
could obtain that would protect their right to teach without the risk of being dismissed or
demoted without just cause. Career status also said teachers had the right to argue their side in
front of a board if they were at risk of being dismissed or demoted. I can see how these are all
something a teacher would hold dear to them, so it is important I find out how and why each side
is fighting.
After reading the law suit members of NCAE filed against the state of North Carolina, it
is clear teachers are going through immense changes. The true debate, however, is whether or not
these changes effect qualified teachers. The major argument of those making the revocations is
that they believe the good teachers will stay and those who do not do their job well are at risk.
I have seen the results for North Carolina Teacher Conditions on their website, and the
results showed that teachers are pretty content with their conditions. After seeing this
information, it raises the question of are teachers lying, do they not care, or are they honestly fine

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with the way things are in the classroom? This information could also be misleading for
spectators of the issue. Instead of asking about how teachers feel about their rights and pay, they
were asked about their working conditions. The issues teachers are facing lie in the rights that
were taken from them.
These problems are extremely important in our everyday lives. We need teachers to learn.
Public schools are something the majority of students go through, and if we do not have
dedicated and effective teachers then the generations to come will not have to knowledge
necessary to make it in this day and age.
Initial Inquiry Question(s)
Why are North Carolina and/or all teachers speaking out against the government?
Why is the government taking away these longstanding teacher benefits?
My Interest in this Topic
All my life I have enjoyed teaching. As a little girl I played teacher with my friends and
in high school I participated in the Teacher Cadet program at my school. During this program I
was able to teach a first and seventh grade class. I enjoyed this experience so much. Up until
recently, I have always wanted to be a teacher. The issues teachers are facing are why I have
strayed away from this profession. I only know the basis of the issues. I hope this project will
help me learn the exact information on both sides of the issues, allowing me to both take a side,
and possibly make a difference in the future. I would also like to know that our education system
is or is becoming steady for our generations to come. I grew up in this school system and I have
seen struggles from the outside, but now I am beginning to understand there is a lot more behind
the scenes that may be causing these problems. Education is the basis of America, after all even

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our president went through public schools, and we need to make sure that students are getting an
adequate education to help our nation advance.
Next Steps
Next I plan to research the governments side of the issues. I will look on government
websites and see their opinion on why they chose to make these decisions. Then, I will look at
the actual facts. I plan to research statistics on the pros and cons of each change in the laws. After
looking at statistics on the issue, I plan to read individual case studies to see what actual, real-life
teachers have been going through with these changes. I will use reliable and straight to the
source websites. I also plan on using the librarys reference page. I will interview a previous
teacher of mine, who was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the state of North
Carolina. Along with that, I will interview teachers who are not involved in NCAE to see if they
feel as strongly, and if so how are they expressing their frustration or getting involved?