A Letter to the Editor from Rhino Reader Zitty Nxumalo, Ph.D.

Guilford, we have a problem. I’m in my 13th week as President of Guilford Education Alliance and something I’ve long suspected is afoot. I am a product of Guilford County Schools, but I’ve also been exposed to what’s happening in public education outside of our county and state. After graduating high school, I left… and then came back several years later. This makes me a Boomerang, thanks to Action Greensboro.

It pains me to say that I think Guilford County has fallen into the same trap that a lot of American communities have fallen into. We’ve rewarded historic precedent over common sense. This is glaringly clear when we look at our county-wide decision regarding teacher pay.

Although we have the 3rd largest school district in North Carolina, we rank 15th in teacher pay. On average, teachers’ salaries in Guilford County are 35% lower than those in peer counties, such as Forsyth, Durham, Mecklenburg, and Wake. What does this say about our priorities? Our teachers and frontline workers (cafeteria workers, bus drivers, janitors, etc.) are tasked with some of the most impactful and underappreciated jobs – to work alongside parents and guardians to educate our children in safe, healthy environments. They serve over 10 million meals to our children each year and drive 45,000 miles every day. They also maintain over 350 buildings. Yet, many still have to work a second and third job. When do they get to spend time with their own families?

To shortchange them is to shortchange our own future.

Teachers are the ones who prepare the healthcare workers who will nurture us during our most vulnerable moments. Teachers educate our highly skilled working-class contributors – those who make sure our roads are safe, our facilities are clean, our toilets are operational, and our HVAC systems are running well. Imagine having to rely on a subpar workforce, or worse – no workforce at all because we failed as a county to make the investment that literally yields life-giving returns.

Many of us don’t have to imagine this scenario because we experienced the gaps when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Suddenly, our teachers, administrators, frontline and essential workers had to do the heavy lifting during a crisis that none of us quite knew how to interpret. Despite the ambiguity and confusion, the very people who many have overlooked were, yet again, called upon to help save the day.

Why aren’t we paying them more?

Four years later, we have an opportunity to intelligently address what this global crisis revealed. Education – through our committed teachers and the district’s frontline workers – is the foundation of it all.

One solution that is on the table is a sales tax increase that would supplement the pay that teachers and frontline workers receive. We’ve tried this in the past, and failed to get it passed largely due to inaccuracies in voters’ interpretation of what a sales tax increase actually means. So now, the work is educating our diverse voter base to sell them on this common sense solution. We already have bi-partisan support from our county commissioners.

First, what would be taxed? This question is extremely important because the misconception that groceries and gas would be taxed for our working class has kept citizens from getting on board. The truth is, a sales tax increase would have minimal impact on most local consumers, but would yield great impact.

Here are some important details:

  • The tax would equal 0.25 percent (a fraction of a penny). In other words, for every $20 spent, a sales tax of 5 cents (a nickel) would be charged.
  • The tax would NOT apply to gas, groceries, or prescriptions.
  • The tax WOULD apply to tourism dollars. According to an August 2024 Fox 8 article, “Guilford County, the Triad’s top county for tourism spending and fifth in the state [recently celebrated] the county’s 8.7% increase from $1.547 billion in 2022 to $1.681 billion in 2023. Last year’s total came out to nearly double the $849 million the county earned in 2020.” Why not leverage the enormous investment we’ve made in attracting people to our area?
  • This tax would yield $25M annually to supplement pay for our educators and frontline workers.

I took my daughter to a lovely play area in Friendly Center a few weeks ago. We met a wonderful woman who was also there with her daughter. I took note of her level of comfort interacting with all the other children, and the warmth and attentiveness she brought to our conversation. When I asked about her work, she admitted that she’d always wanted to be a teacher but was forced to take another path. Guess why? Today, she is making more money waiting tables at a barbeque restaurant than she made during her stint as a teacher.

To be clear, I do not write this to minimize our restaurant workers. I’ve worked at Village Tavern and Macaroni Grill (among others) and often share how much I learned about human behavior and customer service during those seasons of life. Still, I find it appalling to learn that yet another potentially life-changing teacher was forced to turn away from this noble profession because we have yet to fix this problem. When will we prioritize our babies over our barbeque?

The timing may not have been right in the past. What if the timing is optimal now, particularly with the energy surrounding the national political scene? Guilford Education Alliance has, for nearly 20 years, worked alongside Guilford County Schools to galvanize support for our district. As the new President, this issue may be our lowest hanging fruit. That is, if we choose truth and common sense over history.

Zitty Nxumalo, Ph.D.

About