For the Kids. Period. (ft. NCAE President Tamika Walker Kelly)

We sat down with Tamika Walker Kelly, the six-year President of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), the state’s largest professional organization for public school employees. Tamika is an 18-year NC public school educator, a North Carolina Teaching Fellows alumna, and someone our own Chuck Wills knows personally: she taught his daughter.

Jeezy, Manny, and Chuck went deep on the issues that don’t get nearly enough airtime: the NC General Assembly budget that is 320-plus days overdue. The “8% average raise” is actually a pay cut when you run the real numbers. School closures are tearing through communities from Martin County to Cumberland County to Chapel Hill. Why the “far-left” label thrown at NCAE by the Monroe mayor is a misfire. And what it will take to fix an educator shortage that goes far deeper than pipeline programs.

Transcript

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Jeez Louize: Hello, world, and welcome to Pardon the Politics Podcast Season 3. But this is different, this is a special edition of Pardon the Politics, but for… before we get into that, on one side, I got my brother Manny. Manny, how are you, brother?

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Manny: Man, I'm doing well, doing well. How are you doing?

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Jeez Louize: I'm blessed and highly favored, brother, I can't complain, I can't complain. On the other side…

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Jeez Louize: You all know we got the chairman of Chaos himself, our brother Chuck. Chuck, how you doing, man?

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Chairman of Chaos: Really, really. Hey, man.

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Chairman of Chaos: Blessed to be in the house of the Lord, one more game.

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Jeez Louize: One more gear, one more gear, one more gear.

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Chairman of Chaos: One more game.

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Jeez Louize: To our listeners, welcome to a special edition of Pardon the Politics. We know we don't typically do this often, but

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Jeez Louize: We have such a special guest with us today that it calls for a special edition, and I'm gonna let my brother Chuck sit here and introduce the special guest that we have today. We got a special treat for you guys today, so… Brother Chuck, take it away.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, sir, it is my honor, it is my pleasure to introduce our guest today.

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Chairman of Chaos: This guest is someone who I hold in a high regard. It's a…

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Chairman of Chaos: phenomenal woman who I've known for many years now, actually, as we think about it. As I've brought her name up before, she is a fellow ECU Pirate.

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Chairman of Chaos: More importantly to me, she's a fellow 2-6er, although she's part of that 1800 crew, but, you know, I ain't gonna hold that against her. I ain't gonna hold that against her. But we have the fantastic, the phenomenal Miss Tamika Walker Kelly.

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Chairman of Chaos: Ms. Kelly is an 18-year North Carolina public school educator, having taught 13 years at

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Chairman of Chaos: As an elementary music specialist at Morganton Road Elementary School in the great city of Fayetteville, North Carolina.

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Chairman of Chaos: Tamika is currently in her sixth year as the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, and NCAE is the state's largest professional organization for public school employees.

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Chairman of Chaos: In this role, Tamika advocates for high-quality public education for all students, legislation that benefits public school students and educators, and building community support.

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Chairman of Chaos: Most importantly, her vision is that our collective work… The collective work at NCAE, we can continue building upon North Carolina's public schools' great legacy. And as individuals, particularly myself.

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Chairman of Chaos: who is a beneficiary of the North Carolina Public School System. I hold this work dear to my heart. And I have another special connection with Ms. Kelly. She actually taught my daughter for a few years at Morganton Rowe Elementary School.

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Manny: Oh, man.

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Chairman of Chaos: Ladies and gentlemen, we have Miss Tamika Walker Kelly. Thank you for joining us.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yay!

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Jeez Louize: Ayyyye.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Very exciting.

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Jeez Louize: Welcome, welcome, welcome to the pod.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Thank you.

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Manny: miss.

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Jeez Louize: We are excited. I think this is a monumental moment for us here on Pardon the Politics, because…

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Jeez Louize: the caliber of guests that we have before us, I definitely have to say is a first for us, and we are excited to allow, you to educate not only us, but our listeners on your role.

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Jeez Louize: the NCAE, and what we need to be aware of, especially going into the political climate that we have coming before us with midterms. So, we're gonna jump right in, and feel free to let it, let it ride, and do your thing.

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Chairman of Chaos: We don't put any punches here.

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Jeez Louize: Don't pull no punches here. It is definitely the backyard cookout with the lights down and having a good time, so we want you to be able to be free and say whatever you…

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Jeez Louize: you feel so, but we want to ask you, starting with our first question, can you explain to us, the impact of the current North Carolina budget? It's been circulating, and people have been talking about it.

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Jeez Louize: comments have been made, but can you explain the impact of that North Carolina budget, and what does it mean, not only for, teachers, but more than that, for the actual classrooms and for the students as well?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yes, well, first of all, again, thank you for having me.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): On the show, I'm really excited and always excited to talk about public education in public schools and public school workers, so it's such a pleasure to be able to do that. And to jump right into your question, well, first, let me clarify that we actually don't have a budget.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): What we have is a quote-unquote budget deal that has yet to be printed through appropriations in the General Assembly, so we actually don't even have robust details to even look at.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): what we do have is what was, shared at a press conference, and then we saw a release salary schedule. So we have really…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): We don't have a comprehensive look at what the budget is supposed to look like as we continue to move through this, legislative session. So…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): North Carolina works on a biennium budget, a budget that covers 2 years, and so it has been over 320 days since the General Assembly was supposed to pass the budget on June 30th of 2025.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And we still… 10 months late, the assignment is late, it is past due, and so… Do we get points off?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): No!

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Jeez Louize: Can we turn it in late?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): In a normal functioning society, when people don't meet deadlines, there are consequences, right?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): But not for the General Assembly, apparently. So, we are still operating under the budget that was, the 2023-2025 budget cycle.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And it continues to see detriments. What has been proposed, at least from what we know around educator pay, is an average 8% raise, and I have to say, and really put emphasis on the average part.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Because most people miss that, it's missed in the headlines, it's missed in discussions.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And, you know, people that do math, know that average doesn't mean that everybody gets 8%. So, if you look at the salary schedule and the breakdown, many of our beginning teachers in their first 5 years.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They will see an increase of their base salary up to 17%.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Anybody after year 15 or higher, so your most experienced and most veteran educators, could see anywhere around 5%.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): None of that, though, meets where we are in this current economic climate. It is under the rate of inflation. It doesn't account for the increase in health insurance premiums that educators felt this year.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Increased energy bills, as you know, everybody's electric bill is going up.

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Chairman of Chaos: what Jesus said.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And it's the worst, right?

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Chairman of Chaos: I just got mine. Absolute worst. My chance.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): So, as we've said as an organization, it is… it doesn't do enough. It is a game of smoke and mirrors, and we'll continue to raise the alarm that we're actually really cutting the pay of educators in this state, and continue to race to the bottom, as I was saying.

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Chairman of Chaos: Well, I'm glad that you mentioned that, because the state is quick to say that teacher pay is up 28% since 2016. However, and I think you alluded to this in your response, NCEA

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Chairman of Chaos: That's not right. NCAE.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): to him.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah. Words and numbers and letters. But anyway, y'all say that, real wages actually are down 5%.

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Chairman of Chaos: With… when you adjust it for the rate of inflation. And although we say sometimes two things can be true at the same time.

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Chairman of Chaos: I like to tell them, men lie, women lie, and numbers do too, depending upon who presents them. So, how are you all, how are you all coming to this, this number, and where do you think the state…

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Chairman of Chaos: is, I guess, trying to propagandaize, and that's not a word, but I like how it sounds.

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Chairman of Chaos: There's 28% range.

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Jeez Louize: Y'all read the Bible? Yes, sir.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, sir.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, if you look at the raw numbers from the state, you know, legislative leaders have touted this as the biggest increase in educator pay in 20 years, and that would be correct when you consider that they've only given raises of about 4 or 5% in the last few budget cycles, so 8%…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): is a huge increase. But what we look at, especially with our national organization, the National Education Association, is we look at educator salaries

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): year after year, and account for inflation. And what we continue to see, especially with the pay report that was released a few months ago, is that North Carolina salaries are not keeping up with the national average.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They're not even keeping up with the salaries in the Southeast. So places like Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi are making significant gains in educator pay.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And North Carolina continues to fall to the bottom. We are, projected to have educator salaries drop to 46 in the nation.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And it is not that we don't have the money to actually increase educator pay. We continue to see North Carolina be ranked

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): 50th out of 51st, when you account for Washington, D.C, for public school funding effort, which really means that, like, North Carolina is not even trying to put money into schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, those are the numbers that we continue to use that most people use as the barometer of the measure, the NEA pay rankings.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, while we continue to see upwards increase, when you talk about beginning teacher salary, when you look at overall educator salary, we are not making the mark when it comes to those, numbers.

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Manny: I think… I think that's really interesting to… to understand how all that plays out. From the other side, is one of the largest criticisms about raising education funding is that, you know, there's context of we're not seeing results.

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Manny: I think when you look at your own career, and then look at North Carolina as a whole.

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Manny: what do you guys measure as success, and how should people that aren't involved and don't have an education background understand those numbers? Because again, to what Chuck said, numbers are numbers if you don't have the context behind them. So how do you measure success?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Well, as an educator, we look at how a student grows throughout the school year on their academic journey, and the state measures growth, but they also measure proficiency, which is, you know, how well do students align to the grade level standard, not necessarily how much they grow during the school year.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, one of the things is that it is really hard to measure schools

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): accurately when every school population is different. So, I have spent most of my… all of my teaching career, really, in what is designated as a Title I school, which means that the students that attend the school

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Are considered having low economic… low socioeconomic status, meaning that their… many of their families' incomes are at or below the poverty line.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): When those students come to school, they need a sizable number of resources in order to meet the mark as their well-to-do peers on the other side of town.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): That requires money to pay for additional reading supports, additional math supports, additional school counselors, because many students are coming into our classrooms with traumas that happened outside of the classroom, and so you can't expect every student to be at a level playing field. It's almost like…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): asking, two groups of students to play basketball, and you give one of them a deflated basketball, and say, hey, you gotta figure it out.

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Manny: Tom Brady won a.

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Jeez Louize: Hold on.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): You know, but he also cheated, which happens in.

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Chairman of Chaos: Oh, man.

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Jeez Louize: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

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Chairman of Chaos: You got a Patriots fan on here. I'm sorry.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): for you. So, you know, like…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): We, we, some of our… all of our students are not starting at the same…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): At the same blog, starting blog.

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Jeez Louize: effect.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, saying, okay, well, we need to see results. I mean, the truth of it is, in order… in places, in states, and this is documented in states.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): where they have better school funding, like Massachusetts or California, those places also have better academic results, because those students have access to better resources, they have access

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): to more consistent classrooms, classroom educators, and additional supports that help them focus on the academics, and also addresses other needs that students bring to the classroom. And so, our state, which I will say, our educators are incredible here in North Carolina. Great things happen in North Carolina public.

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Chairman of Chaos: Amen, amen.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): day.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): The thing is that those amazing things happen in spite of the conditions that our schools are in. And the question that I would love for people to answer is, what…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): What could our schools and our students be doing so much more of if we were actually funding them to thrive instead of trying to figure out how to survive?

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Chairman of Chaos: Listen, I want to say, and I've said it here before on the podcast, and this is something that I live by, we're not all created equal.

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Chairman of Chaos: But if we all have equity to be able.

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Chairman of Chaos: To be provided with and have access to the resources

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Chairman of Chaos: To put us at an even footing.

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Chairman of Chaos: We're not trying to get ahead, just an even footing,

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, you preaching, girl. You preaching.

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Jeez Louize: I have to say, go ahead and pass that, collection plate around.

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Chairman of Chaos: She preachin'.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): On the level of playing field, that's what we say.

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Jeez Louize: And that is so important, because…

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Jeez Louize: that has to be identified, right? And, you know, for a product of public school.

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Jeez Louize: To have a, you know, a wife who is in the public school system in a low-income community.

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Jeez Louize: Where I see those struggles.

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Jeez Louize: I oftentimes think that the people at the top don't know those real struggles, and if they would pour into those buckets, the…

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Jeez Louize: The outcome will be far greater than they could have probably ever imagined, and that is something that…

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Jeez Louize: goes unnoticed far too much, and is a sad reality for us here in North Carolina.

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Jeez Louize: But, I believe, Chuck, you were about to say something. I was gonna ask a question, but go ahead, Chuck.

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Chairman of Chaos: No, go ahead, brother.

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Jeez Louize: Oh, okay. So, with everything that you've said thus far.

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Jeez Louize: If the NCAAE got everything it wanted tomorrow, what… student…

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Jeez Louize: outcomes would approve, by how much and over what timeline? What would it look like if everything that you wanted, what you thought was the reality, the standard of education for everyone in North Carolina? If they got those things, what would that outcome from students look like?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Well, I would say that if we were… I would say not we… if our lawmakers were really serious about supporting every student.

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Chairman of Chaos: Hold on, hold on, Tamika. Hey, Jeezy, hit that message button, brother.

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Chairman of Chaos: The lawmakers were serious.

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Chairman of Chaos: messy!

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Jeez Louize: No.

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Jeez Louize: Yeah, brother. Okay.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, say, say that again. Start that… run that back from the top, like the DJ.

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Jeez Louize: Starting the record over. BY.

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Chairman of Chaos: Cause that was… that was a real…

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Chairman of Chaos: poignant statement, if they were serious about the impact. Go ahead, I'm sorry.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, no, no, fine, but I will say, if our lawmakers were serious about giving every child the opportunity to have a high-quality, well-funded, well-resourced school, we would see our students flourish every day.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): We would see academic performance increase, we would see a decrease in a lot of disruptive behavior that we see in schools.

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Jeez Louize: Mmm.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): We would see happier children and families. We would actually see educators who love and want to stay in their jobs for an extended period of time.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Some of those things are measurable, right? We… test scores, assessments, those things are measurable. And some of those things are not. People's perception, school climate, school culture, all of those things are not necessarily measurable. And…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): If… even if we got all of the things that we requested and needed, which, one day, we will win, but,

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): what we have to do is continue to maintain it. So the role of the union is not just to, you know, fight for the things, to win the things, but it's also to set up the structures and processes that include really critical stakeholder voices, like students, parents, and educators, to maintain those systems. Educators right now are trying to, and school district leaders are trying to maintain

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): a school system on shoestrings and duct tape right now. And, you know.

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Chairman of Chaos: They want y'all to be MacGyver.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Oh, and they're doing it well. They are doing it well.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): But the thing is, we would continue to see healthy communities, because

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): The health of a school is also the health of the community, and so what we do for public schools ripples out, and then we would really set a new direction for the course of our state.

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Jeez Louize: Man, y'all pass that collection plate around again.

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Chairman of Chaos: I'm telling you, man, like, I'm enamored, number one.

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Chairman of Chaos: I saw, Tamika, there was a rally that you all held, before the, the day of the march. What was that, May 1st?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, we had to march on May 1st.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, amazing.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Absolutely.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, I know you had a rally prior to that, and… You know, the…

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Chairman of Chaos: I've seen you, for our listeners, or our… what do we call them? Pardoneers? Pardoneers?

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Jeez Louize: We gonna call them the potioneers.

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Manny: I've gotten here.

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Chairman of Chaos: Pardon the ears. But,

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Chairman of Chaos: To this point, you hear the passion, you hear the energy, you hear the love in her voice.

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Chairman of Chaos: Believe it or not, she's a very soft-spoken individual.

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Chairman of Chaos: Like, and so… and I say that because when I saw the rally, and I've heard her

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Chairman of Chaos: I guess you could say raise her voice, because even when she raises her voice, it's still, like, a soft raising of the voice, but at that point…

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Manny: No, you don't let… you don't let Chuck…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Well, I'm just saying, as a musician, we don't, yeah, we don't, yeah.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, she doesn't yell. She's not a yeller. I've known… shoot, it's been probably 20 years now we've known each other, if not more, and I've never heard her, like, yell.

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Chairman of Chaos: like, I've heard her in excitement, you know, voice raise a bit, and even in that rally, she didn't yell, but that was the highest level that I've heard her, like, her voice just get up.

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Chairman of Chaos: And it speaks volumes to where she is in her mission, in her drive, and her seriousness about

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Chairman of Chaos: our educators, our students, and the system that is currently in place that is doing an injustice to them. So, you know, I just want to let you know

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Chairman of Chaos: I was quite, not taken aback, but I was a bit shocked. I was like, okay, I see it, I see it.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, I mean, educating our students, we're talking about our, like, kids.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Baby that they sent to the school.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Like, that is serious business. Indeed, indeed. And that is so important. And to… to the point that you raised earlier, Antonio, about, like, if our… if the people in positions of, you know, authority of power could only see what we go on a day-to-day, they… they know.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They, they come, they, they actually, just a couple of months ago, legislators, had a, a whole Legislators in Schools Day. They come, you know, they visit classrooms, they shadow teachers, and they, and they do that every single year.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And then they go back to the General Assembly, and then they convene, and then they pass a piece of legislation that undermines everything they saw in that wonderful classroom with those wonderful students. They know.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And they are making a political choice to do something different.

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Jeez Louize: Yep.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): But they know.

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Jeez Louize: I've seen some of them, and it's even funny with certain counties they go to. They make sure that they go to certain schools.

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Jeez Louize: That they look a certain way, that they go to certain classrooms, and I'm like, yeah, you ain't going across this side of town, or there, where you… Mo ain't going over there.

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Chairman of Chaos: Take care and tune.

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Jeez Louize: nice school, in a nice community, you know, everything looks polished and nice, and then they go sit back, and there's things that just don't happen. But there is those that have made their grievances known, and it's not from a personal perspective, it's literally

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Jeez Louize: give me what I need so I can build our future. I'm not asking for something that serves me.

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Jeez Louize: It serves us, and when we don't put that back into our community.

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Jeez Louize: we create so much more of an issue that happens, and I just can't understand why it's not a forefront issue. I've made a comment on this podcast, and I stand by that if we believe that doctors and nurses are well worth the pay.

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Jeez Louize: I don't understand why teachers are not in the same category. They saving lives, too.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, sir.

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Jeez Louize: Saving lives, too, so…

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Chairman of Chaos: The first… the first one's to save lives.

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Chairman of Chaos: You don't become nurses and doctors without the teacher.

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Manny: How to teach you.

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Jeez Louize: Bingo. Bingo.

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Chairman of Chaos: What came first, the chicken or the egg?

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Jeez Louize: I've never… I've never understood why we… we treat… we'll complain about all these problems, but we could solve it if we just would take care.

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Jeez Louize: of our teachers, and give them and empower them to be able to make productive citizens that come into the society and really shape our future. So…

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Jeez Louize: you know, I hear your passion, and it's inspiring to hear it, and the love that you have for it, and what you've done thus far, and I hope that is the battery that continues to give you what you need to go forward and keep fighting for these rights. So, Brother Chuck, I'll let you ask our next question that we have for our guests.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, so, recently, we saw parents and staff in Martin County speaking out over a proposed school merger, with many worried about community identity, student impact, and whether these decisions are being driven for, more financial pressure, or…

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Chairman of Chaos: over educational outcomes. From your perspective.

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Chairman of Chaos: The districts across North Carolina

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Chairman of Chaos: facing these issues right now, what's leading this conversation? And I… and we… we say Martin County, but also, I know recently in Fayetteville, the Cumberland County Board of Education, approved the closing down of a couple different schools. One of the schools

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Chairman of Chaos: was approaching 60 years of being open and serving our students, and particularly one of them is in the town of Spring Lake, where there are only, what, two elementary schools, and so closing this one down would only leave that town with one elementary school.

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Chairman of Chaos: So, but back to it, from your perspective, what do you think is,

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Chairman of Chaos: Leading this conversation with these different boards, throughout the state.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, it is… it is a devastating effect to a community when you have to close a school. Schools are, like I said, hubs for so many different reasons. Generations of families have gone to a particular elementary school, middle school, high school.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): You have, of course, your Friday night football games, right? Your school dances.

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Chairman of Chaos: What are you?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And in COVID, right, schools served as, shelters for people.

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Chairman of Chaos: India.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Well, during hurricanes, I should say, they served as shelters for people, but during COVID, schools were the… schools were the place where you get… where you got fed. They fed everybody.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, yes.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They, you know, gave out breakfast, lunch, and dinner, right? And so schools are so critically important, so when you close a school, you are really, like, cutting out…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): a real hard line for a community. What is happening, and what has been happening for the past couple of years, though, is that… and I will say this again, because of the state abandoning their responsibilities to fund schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Local school districts, and also local county commissioners

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Have been taking up the responsibility of trying to fund schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And coupled with, in many places across the state, people aren't having kids like they used to.

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Chairman of Chaos: It's too expensive.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Well, I mean, like, way too expensive. You know, dropping birth rates, things like that.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Many schools have… many districts are… are making the hard decision to close schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): it's… it's happened in… in… in, like, Martin, like you were referencing, it's happening in Cumberland County right now, although I… I have, like, you know, asterisk, asterisk about what's happening in Cumberland County, but I have to come back. But it's even… it's even happening in places like Chapel Hill, which.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): is largely affluent, but they have put a couple schools on… on the closure block. And we will continue to see more school closings

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): if we can't find the remedy to find the funding source, to keep schools open. We have not passed a statewide school construction bond in, like, over 10-some years.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Wow. There have been efforts to put one on the ballot for, I think one of the past two legislative cycles, but we haven't managed to do that.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And schools, you know, schools are aging, our buildings are aging, and…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): some of our buildings are not even safe to be sending people into. They got HVAC issues, they got mold, you know, they got lead and asbestos and all that stuff like that, and so…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): You know, it… it is… it is hard. It is a very hard decision. I… the hardest job, I would say, right now, as an elected official, is to be a school board member. It's really hard right now. And so… but we'll continue to see schools close… school closures if…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): If the state continues to shirk its responsibility to fund the schools so that locals actually have the capacity, and local school districts actually have the capacity to continue to run their school systems and their local government.

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Manny: I have kind of, like, a follow-up from that. You kind of alluded to it, but I kind of want you to dive in a little bit more here. Can you talk a little bit about how the funding works for schools at the local levels? And then my follow-up to that is.

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Manny: Do you think there is a structural issue that needs to be addressed?

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Manny: Across the state with our various counties?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, so it is interesting. A lot of people do think… so, most of our funding from the schools comes from the state.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): The local's responsibility, once they get their allocation from the state, the local school board, of course, then makes an appeal to the county commission, for additional funding, but they get a bulk of their funding from the state.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): The county commission, really is supposed to support capital needs of a school system, and they may or may not support what is called, like, a local education supplement that goes to employees.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And then, of course, people do believe that city councils have something to do with schools, but they have nothing to do with schools at all. City councils have nothing to do with schools. That's out of their… out of their range of things they're supposed to be in charge with.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, one of the things that we will… and that we see, and will continue to see, is that school districts are trying to, you know, balance state, federal, and local priorities.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): with their budgets, and they will continue to go to local county commissioners and ask for more money, because the state, like I said, is not providing those funds and resources.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Also, our local school boards, unlike other places in other states, our local school boards don't have what we call tax and authority.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): So, you know, sometimes I see people online sharing, salary schedules that come from, like, Atlanta public schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): or, a school board in, South Carolina.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And the problem is, is those local school boards can tax their residents in order to get funds to have higher salaries than the state base pay. North Carolina, our local school boards can't tax.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They can't do that. And so that is why, all of our local school boards, all 115 of them, are dependent on what the state allocations are, large in part for their budgets, and then they have to work with their county commissioners to supplement whatever is missing.

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Chairman of Chaos: I'm glad you said, I'm glad you said that, because,

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Chairman of Chaos: I've been trying to encourage my wife to go to APS, because they recently, agreed to increase their pay, and what she get paid, it's a good salary. But if she was at APS, APS school.

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Chairman of Chaos: Whew, I might be a stay-at-home dad.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I mean, it is…

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Chairman of Chaos: That's very… it's very interesting, and being a Georgia resident, we are seeing that here in regards to the school closures.

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Chairman of Chaos: I'm sure it's something that is happening across the country, but we definitely, have some, schools that have

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Chairman of Chaos: I don't want to say up forbid. Proposed, that's the word. Proposed for closing, and it's very disheartening to see, when… because people have a lot of ties, a lot of emotional investment into their schools. In fact, I saw my first elementary school

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Chairman of Chaos: Margaret Willis was on the list in Fayetteville.

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Chairman of Chaos: For potential closing in it.

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Chairman of Chaos: Hey, I'm a tiger for life, man.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, it's, it's, it's sad.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I saw my elementary school on the list, too.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And, you know, there's also, a lot, of course, race and class at play, and that is something also to be mindful of.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): But, like I said, the… it is a… it is a structural problem, and happening across the nation, where we are closing schools that communities need, and we're… we are exacerbating, actually what has been, like, the… the reverse

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): are resegregating of the, of the school systems, of, of students. And it's, it is unfortunate.

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Jeez Louize: Yeah, I totally agree. And I want to ask you a question that,

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Jeez Louize: See how you feel about this, and…

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Jeez Louize: Hopefully this doesn't get you too fired up.

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Manny: -Oh, but .

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Chairman of Chaos: Legal.

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Jeez Louize: Recently, the Monroe mayor, Robert Burns.

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Jeez Louize: accused the NCAE of being driven by far-left activism.

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Jeez Louize: after criticizing the proposed raises. So, my question is, what's your response to people who believe that the organization has become more…

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Jeez Louize: Political than educational.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Well, I would tell them, that…

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Jeez Louize: You don't gotta be peaceful.

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Chairman of Chaos: Can't smoke flour.

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Jeez Louize: What?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I mean, to be really honest, you know, I would tell them education in and of itself is inherently political. Every decision that is made about an educator's classroom is made by an elected official, whether it is.

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Chairman of Chaos: Whoa!

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Board level, whether it is on the state level, or whether it happens on the federal level.

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Chairman of Chaos: Okay.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And for educators, as…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): In their role specifically, educators, if they are parents, if they are community members, but most importantly, as voting constituents, if they are not engaged in the politics around education.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): then they are doing themselves and their students and their school a disservice. So, it is not something that I would apologize for, for NCAE being political.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Because it is a necessity.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): It is… it is very much a necessity. Anywhere from curriculum decisions, to…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): our pay to educators getting planning time, for educators having the ability, to have parental, leave, for educators, to be able to choose

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): appropriate, books in their classroom. All of those decisions are made by someone

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): most likely someone who has never been an educator, and never will be an educator, but will set the course in the direction for generations of North Carolina students

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): by the decisions that they make by pushing that button at their desk. And so, it is really important for educators to be political. Now, we don't have to be partisan.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Education does not need to be partisan, actually, and it shouldn't be, because it really should be.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): One of the main issues that everybody should be

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): together and unified on to do what's best for children. But unfortunately, what has happened is that, of course, educators, schools, and students continue to be, if we're going to keep the football thing going, we continue to be footballs in a partisan game, rather than making sure that we are making decisions that are going to be best for students and educators in the long run.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): So, I'm not apologizing for being political. It is the work that is inherently what we should be doing.

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Chairman of Chaos: Basically, what you're telling him…

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Jeez Louize: Mayor of Monroe, watch yourself.

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Chairman of Chaos: I was about to say, basically what she's telling me is, pardon the politics.

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Jeez Louize: Yep.

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Chairman of Chaos: Bam.

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Jeez Louize: X, wax.

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Chairman of Chaos: Well…

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Jeez Louize: You know, I think that to bring this, home.

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Jeez Louize: you are a product of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program yourself.

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Jeez Louize: Which is a phenomenal program.

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Chairman of Chaos: Woo, woo!

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Jeez Louize: I gotta give you your flowers and that, and those that have traveled through that pipeline, because it is essential to North Carolina education. But when you look at where education stands today, is the current version

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Jeez Louize: Of the program enough to address the teacher shortage.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): So, yes, I'm a proud Teaching Fellow alum of the original Teaching Fellow program that was…

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Chairman of Chaos: She said, check the original.

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Jeez Louize: Should've thrown that original movie.

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Chairman of Chaos: Version 2.5, the original. That's right.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): led by the amazing and rest in peace, Joanne Norris and Glass Graves, through the work of the Public School Forum at one time. And…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And it was brought back after much advocacy from current teaching fellows, from, alum.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And… but not back to its full strength.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): So what I will say is that, no, the Teaching Fellows Program alone is not going to be enough, to address the educator shortage here in North Carolina.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): What… what needs to happen? We… we could do lots of things. Districts, you know, are trying really hard to recruit educators. We, have opened up North Carolina to an abundance of

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): educators from overseas, you know, we've done all of that stuff. But we have a homegrown problem. And the problem is, is that we have elected officials who have not cultivated a culture of respect and reverence for the profession.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And if… until we do that,

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): It doesn't matter if people want to teach here, because you have already shown them through policy and practice that you don't respect teachers. And we actually need people who respect the hard work

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): that educators do in classrooms and in school sites every single day. It takes a lot of work to shape and mold and guide

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I can't even say a class from 20 to 25. I would say more like 25 to 35 students on a daily basis for seven and a half hours.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): day.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And making sure that you are meeting their individual needs.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And also taking on the additional demands of the job. And so, our educators, they love what they do, they love their kids, they love the parents that they work with, they love their school communities, but they feel…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): devalued, they feel disrespected, and they don't feel seen and heard.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, our elected officials, one, could not just talk the talk, but actually tout the action and ask.

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Jeez Louize: Actually.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): put policies and things in place that show you respect the profession every single day, and that would be the first, most important step to fixing the educator shortage problem here in North Carolina.

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Manny: You know.

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Jeez Louize: Well said.

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Manny: One of the criticisms that, you know, I hear about North Carolina education is teachers and everyone's running wild with DEI running y'all in the curriculum.

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Manny: So, I have a question for you.

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Manny: who actually controls what is taught in North Carolina classrooms? And if somebody wants a change, be it a teacher, be it a parent, how do they go about those changes? How is that evaluated?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Yeah, so here in North Carolina, the standards and curriculum are set by the State Board of Education through the Department of Public Instruction.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Educators use those standards to then develop their lessons to teach the standards.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): But those… but they're not in charge of curriculum. So, an individual educator will try to supplement what is… what standards they're supposed to teach, but they don't actually choose the curriculum.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so, when I hear, you know, the discussions about, you know, like, teachers are trying to, you know, teach diversity, equity, inclusion, they're trying to make our kids feel uncomfortable, you know, we are trying to continue to help our children be critical thinkers and responsible community members.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): In the world that they are in.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They need to learn about the world that was, the world that they live in now, and they need to have the skills to develop the world that they want to be in.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And we have to be able to equip them with those skills in order to talk about those things. And it's just… I will just say, as a point, it is really hard to eliminate diversity, equity, inclusion from classrooms.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Because public schools are one of the most diverse places you could be.

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Chairman of Chaos: That's a fact.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Students come from all over, they come from different cultures, they come from different.

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Jeez Louize: Yes.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): They come in different ages, they come in different heights. So, like, whose diversity are you trying to eliminate? By design, you can't eliminate diversity from public schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And you can't eliminate inclusion because the public schools welcome every single child.

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Jeez Louize: Exactly.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Regardless where they're from. And so,

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I also… I also know that, you know, there is a… a loud minority of… happening.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): About things, and they may see an outlier or something happen in the public schools and assume that every public school is doing that, which is also not true.

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Jeez Louize: Yeah.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): by and large, there are many stories of great, like I said, great things happening in our public schools all the time.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And yet we don't hear enough about those stories. We hear more about the negative, because that is just the sensationalism of media and social media. And so we have to be really good about telling our stories about what's great about public schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): We need people to go to school board meetings and talk about, you know, your child's teacher did a really great job, your child had a really great day, we need you to go to public comments and talk about that for 2 minutes, because everybody gets the same minutes, while we flooding public comments with the great things that are happening in public schools.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Rather than letting this… the loud minority talk about things that will damage and hurt the work that our educators and our students are doing every single day.

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Jeez Louize: Cracks.

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Manny: Yeah.

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Chairman of Chaos: Man, listen.

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Chairman of Chaos: I just want to say, we could keep going for…

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Chairman of Chaos: Hours. Hours. Like any other episode. Well, with you and your passion, and our passion.

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Chairman of Chaos: with Jeezy and myself, having spouses who are in the public education space, and then being products and having children in it, we share that passion on this end. Unfortunately,

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Chairman of Chaos: Miss Kelly is a very busy woman, and we thank her for carving out some time to come and chop it up with us. I'm gonna leave you with two things. First and foremost, I have a final question for you, and then I'll allow you to

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Chairman of Chaos: give your… your fine… your parting… I was not about to say parting shot… with parting words, as you, you know, have other obligations to, tend to. But my final question for you is.

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Chairman of Chaos: in… I like to say hindsight is 20-20 with corrective lenses, but…

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Chairman of Chaos: Not necessarily hindsight, but if you could have a conversation with your younger self, would you encourage your younger self to go into education again?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Oh, man.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Absolutely. Absolutely, I would. And the reason why I say that is because

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I know many people right now are telling, you know, kids that are… that might even have a spark about being a teacher, like, don't teach in North Carolina.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): But I… I believe that every student deserves to have a really great teacher.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And even…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): it… it is not the most ideal environment, but that… that child coming to school had no part to play in the adult conditions that have been created around them. And so, I would absolutely tell myself to become a teacher, because that is…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): That is what I… I love to do. I loved teaching music to kids. We had fun. We learned, we had fun. I was helping them be their creative best selves.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): And so I absolutely would tell… I would tell myself to do it again, and I would continue to tell people, if that is your heart's desire, please do not let anybody tell you that you should not be a teacher, and I thank you for choosing teaching every single day.

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Chairman of Chaos: Dope, dope. And I will say, before she gives her parting shot, her students loved her. I've witnessed it myself, and like I said, my daughter, but also the other students running, Miss, Miss Kelly, and giving her hugs, and she's not speaking falsehood, her students really loved her.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Have you ever.

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Chairman of Chaos: But with that, you know, you have the word for your parting shot, your final words.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Good.

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Chairman of Chaos: Whatever you want to say, whoever you want to direct it at…

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Jeez Louize: Mines be clear.

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Manny: I like.

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Chairman of Chaos: that bar in the legislature. If y'all want to be serious about… but yeah, floor is yours.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Oh, man, so first, I would not be a good president if I didn't say that, I would tell people to join their union, and of course, NCAE is…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): an organization that we, of course, have community allies, so if you are a community supporter, public school parent, you too can be a part of the union as well, and so you can join us at NCAE.org. But I would also say, that

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Public schools are… the heartbeat of our community, and…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Public schools, by design, are a place where students can see the world.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Through the lenses of every other student in their classroom, and the educator is the facilitator and guider of that process. And so…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): It is critically important that we invest in our public schools, because if we are not investing in our children, if we are not choosing kids over corporations, as we said at the rally, then what…

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): do we want the future of our state to be? Do we want to continue to exacerbate the haves and the have-nots?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Or do we want to create a society where everyone continues to thrive, and everyone gets their needs met? Are we going to practice community like we see in our public schools? And so, I've made my choice, and I want other people to choose.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): our public schools with us. And so, that is the question on the table.

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Jeez Louize: Hey, well, to our listeners…

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Chairman of Chaos: Fire.

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Jeez Louize: to our listeners, again, www.ncae.org. Don't talk about it.

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Jeez Louize: Be about it.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, sir.

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Jeez Louize: Ms. Kelly, we appreciate you for your time. Let's give it up for it, let's give it up for it.

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Chairman of Chaos: reality.

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Jeez Louize: Let's give it up. We… nice little applause for you.

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Chairman of Chaos: Thank you, thank you. Brother, We can't hear your soundboard.

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Manny: At all.

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Chairman of Chaos: Cheers.

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Jeez Louize: Oh, whatever. Yeah. Well… Damon Ray.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Jason, you know.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Imaginary.

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Chairman of Chaos: I agree.

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Jeez Louize: I mean, that's what… ain't that what public school's about?

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): That's right. That's right.

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Jeez Louize: But we appreciate you carving out the time.

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Jeez Louize: To spend with us in this short, and like it was said already, we could continue this conversation for hours, but we certainly, respect your time and, the busy schedule you have, and we cannot thank you nearly enough for allowing us here at Partner Politics just to.

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Jeez Louize: Have you grace us with your presence and the knowledge and the work that you've done, so…

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Chairman of Chaos: Yes, sir.

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Jeez Louize: Thank you, thank you, thank you, and continue.

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Chairman of Chaos: We gotta get to her right, Jesus. Get it right. We thank you once.

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Jeez Louize: We thank you twice.

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Manny: twice.

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Jeez Louize: Thank you, 3 times.

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Chairman of Chaos: Three times, in the name of Jesus Christ.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): I love it.

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Jeez Louize: So, Ms. Kelly, thank you, and hopefully we… this will not be the last, that we'll be able to have you on the pod. I was about to say, as they tell you now, don't be no stranger now.

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Jeez Louize: The doors here at the podcast swing on Welcoming Hinges. You are awesome.

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Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, of course.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Oh, combined with me.

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Jeez Louize: Damn.

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Jeez Louize: Whenever you want… you got smoke for anybody, if you got one place that you can… you can do it at.

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Chairman of Chaos: Spit hot fire. That's it.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Oh, man. So thank you for your time.

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Jeez Louize: Tom, we appreciate you, for all that you do.

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Tamika Walker Kelly, NCAE President (She/Her): Excellent.

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Chairman of Chaos: Alright, good night.

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Jeez Louize: Alright, fellas, well, that is our…

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Jeez Louize: covered with Miss Kelly, and I'm… I'm telling you guys, it's… it's… It's good to have someone

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Jeez Louize: in North Carolina, in our corner.

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Jeez Louize: That is championing the push for our youth, because it's so important.

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Jeez Louize: And, I mean, just…

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Jeez Louize: just the words she spoke in the short period of time, we were able to have her here. I mean, she said a mouthful, and she may have gave us more quotables than the new Drake album.

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Manny: Right.

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Chairman of Chaos: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

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Jeez Louize: Hey, depending on what side of the aisle you fall.

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Chairman of Chaos: Oh, good.

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Jeez Louize: It depends on the… you can know where you fall.

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Jeez Louize: But certainly, I mean, just to have someone with the heart, you know, sometimes you see people, and you meet people, and…

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Jeez Louize: You oftentimes have to ask yourself, what is the motive?

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Jeez Louize: Is it… is it for political gain? Is it for personal gain?

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Jeez Louize: Is there some ulterior motive that is at play that is driving the person to do what they do? And I think that to our listeners, certainly with hearing

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Jeez Louize: Ms. Kelly speak, and the passion and desire that she has, to change, not just the structure and the landscape, but to leave it in a place better than how she found it. I mean.

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Jeez Louize: a heart of gold in what she's trying to do. So, I'm gonna say this, that, you know, for that Monroe mayor.

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Jeez Louize: Amen, watch him out.

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Chairman of Chaos: Watch her mouth, bruh.

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Jeez Louize: But we gon' say it.

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Manny: For people to think, education is so crucial to everything.

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Manny: North Carolina. You know, if we talk about economic development, that if we want companies to come here.

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Manny: We gotta have schools for their kids to grow in.

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Jeez Louize: Mayhem.

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Manny: So, it is all interconnected, so if you're not worried about it from an education standpoint, what we're doing, you should at least be worried about it from an economic standpoint.

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Jeez Louize: Facts.

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Chairman of Chaos: In fact, listen.

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Chairman of Chaos: Simple as that. You have your avenues to find your lane to care about.

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Manny: Yep.

454
00:53:52.690 --> 00:53:54.300
Chairman of Chaos: And… but you gotta…

455
00:53:54.300 --> 00:53:56.400
Manny: for them. You gotta look for them.

456
00:53:57.070 --> 00:54:12.230
Chairman of Chaos: Well, honestly, I don't know if you really have to look for them. They're right in front of you. Like, there's a direct correlation, and we've said this before, there's a direct correlation with good education and economic impact in an area. When there is poor education.

457
00:54:12.530 --> 00:54:14.070
Chairman of Chaos: This poor economic impact.

458
00:54:14.070 --> 00:54:14.750
Manny: economics.

459
00:54:15.030 --> 00:54:15.360
Jeez Louize: Yep.

460
00:54:15.360 --> 00:54:22.099
Chairman of Chaos: it's there, like, there's no question about it. The data shows it, the history shows it.

461
00:54:22.620 --> 00:54:24.930
Chairman of Chaos: This… the environment shows it.

462
00:54:24.930 --> 00:54:25.850
Jeez Louize: So…

463
00:54:26.700 --> 00:54:35.469
Chairman of Chaos: It's to the bar that she spit that's my favorite of this episode, if they were serious, about seeing…

464
00:54:35.600 --> 00:54:39.890
Chairman of Chaos: A positive impact on these kids, they would do something.

465
00:54:40.380 --> 00:54:44.130
Manny: Well, and I think also the they is bigger than just North Carolina, because.

466
00:54:44.130 --> 00:54:45.370
Chairman of Chaos: Oh, the government.

467
00:54:45.370 --> 00:54:52.920
Manny: The Trump administration is withholding, I think it's $154 million in federal education funds, and that's just North Carolina.

468
00:54:53.130 --> 00:55:00.730
Chairman of Chaos: Yeah. I agree. I agree. And this is truly one of those top-down, Issues.

469
00:55:01.020 --> 00:55:09.500
Chairman of Chaos: It's an issue up top, and it's trickling down and causing a problem as it rolls. And when they say rolls downhill?

470
00:55:10.800 --> 00:55:12.020
Chairman of Chaos: I'm just saying.

471
00:55:12.450 --> 00:55:18.589
Jeez Louize: Well, and the sad part about it, with it being a top-down issue, is you have the bottom that is crying, saying.

472
00:55:18.710 --> 00:55:20.440
Manny: Hey, we need the help.

473
00:55:20.620 --> 00:55:25.059
Chairman of Chaos: We need to help. Not we need the help, it's essential that we get.

474
00:55:25.060 --> 00:55:25.690
Jeez Louize: That's cool, yeah.

475
00:55:26.150 --> 00:55:28.769
Jeez Louize: We're telling you how essential it is, and…

476
00:55:28.770 --> 00:55:30.339
Chairman of Chaos: It's a critical point.

477
00:55:30.670 --> 00:55:38.380
Jeez Louize: You know, you see far too many things that go on and take place that seem to take priority over something that should be number one.

478
00:55:38.840 --> 00:55:44.740
Jeez Louize: And… it's a sad reality, because in my… my thought is…

479
00:55:45.650 --> 00:55:55.170
Jeez Louize: And I'm glad to hear Ms. Kelly speak, but one thing that just I constantly think about is, when is it gonna become to a point where enough is enough?

480
00:55:56.140 --> 00:55:59.039
Jeez Louize: And more people are going to continue to just…

481
00:55:59.210 --> 00:56:10.739
Jeez Louize: throw their hands up and walk out in spite of the desire, because you have it happening, that's why you got a teacher shortage. There's a lot of teachers that's just like, I just… I love it. I had a lady that I spoke with who…

482
00:56:10.770 --> 00:56:21.540
Jeez Louize: I mean, almost in tears. I never wanted to leave the classroom. I just don't, but I can't afford? I can't afford, I can't maintain

483
00:56:21.810 --> 00:56:26.150
Jeez Louize: When does enough become enough that… So many leave.

484
00:56:26.340 --> 00:56:31.590
Jeez Louize: And we're seeing it in certain counties and certain areas, not just in North Carolina, but in various states.

485
00:56:31.590 --> 00:56:32.010
Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

486
00:56:32.010 --> 00:56:32.700
Jeez Louize: that…

487
00:56:32.810 --> 00:56:49.010
Jeez Louize: I mean, there's… you don't have enough teachers to educate, and if you just continue to pass the buck and kick the can down the street and just say, well, you know, we'll give them a little 8% here, we'll give them a little this here, we'll give them a little tiny stipend there.

488
00:56:49.390 --> 00:56:53.619
Jeez Louize: At some point, you're gonna break the bow, And that's it.

489
00:56:53.620 --> 00:56:55.430
Manny: something I can depend on.

490
00:56:55.920 --> 00:56:56.280
Jeez Louize: Yeah.

491
00:56:56.280 --> 00:56:57.360
Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, I can't…

492
00:56:57.360 --> 00:57:05.960
Manny: worry about what I'm doing at my job if I'm worrying about, when I leave here, how I'm going to take care of my responsibilities outside.

493
00:57:06.420 --> 00:57:11.169
Chairman of Chaos: Forget leave there. Forget leave there, you're worried about if you're gonna be able to make it there.

494
00:57:11.170 --> 00:57:11.720
Manny: Bruh.

495
00:57:11.720 --> 00:57:12.290
Jeez Louize: Man.

496
00:57:12.290 --> 00:57:15.170
Chairman of Chaos: I don't have enough money to put gas in my car.

497
00:57:15.340 --> 00:57:16.120
Jeez Louize: to…

498
00:57:16.120 --> 00:57:22.090
Chairman of Chaos: get to the schoolhouse. The national average of gas is $4.51.

499
00:57:22.780 --> 00:57:30.000
Chairman of Chaos: $4.51. If you… let's play some number games.

500
00:57:30.510 --> 00:57:40.300
Chairman of Chaos: if you go… yeah, we'll say this place. If you go… I ain't gonna say a particular restaurant, but if you go buy a fast food meal.

501
00:57:41.250 --> 00:57:44.110
Chairman of Chaos: On average, it's gonna be between $10 to $12.

502
00:57:44.110 --> 00:57:44.990
Manny: 10, 12.

503
00:57:44.990 --> 00:57:45.400
Jeez Louize: Yeah.

504
00:57:45.400 --> 00:57:45.810
Manny: Easy.

505
00:57:45.810 --> 00:57:49.220
Chairman of Chaos: You know how much gas… you know how much gas that gets you on the national average?

506
00:57:49.850 --> 00:57:50.860
Chairman of Chaos: Less than 3 gallons?

507
00:57:52.250 --> 00:57:55.199
Chairman of Chaos: Out your driveway?

508
00:57:55.300 --> 00:57:57.110
Chairman of Chaos: That's it to your mailbox?

509
00:57:57.670 --> 00:58:03.570
Chairman of Chaos: like… and these are… these are life decisions. This… Yeah.

510
00:58:03.800 --> 00:58:07.569
Chairman of Chaos: It shouldn't be if I'm gonna drive to work or if I'm gonna eat.

511
00:58:08.370 --> 00:58:12.590
Jeez Louize: And brother, I want to just… to add to that, Most teachers…

512
00:58:13.060 --> 00:58:16.289
Jeez Louize: Don't live within a 5-mile radius of where they were.

513
00:58:16.290 --> 00:58:17.849
Chairman of Chaos: No! No. Heck no!

514
00:58:17.850 --> 00:58:34.580
Jeez Louize: So, when you couple that on top of that cost, before I walk in the door, I'm already getting smacked in the face with affordability, and then I already am gotta work in an environment for seven and a half hours that I feel devalued in.

515
00:58:34.580 --> 00:58:34.950
Chairman of Chaos: Only…

516
00:58:34.950 --> 00:58:39.130
Jeez Louize: To go back home and realize that affordability is still sitting at the front door waiting on me.

517
00:58:39.130 --> 00:58:39.810
Manny: Still.

518
00:58:39.950 --> 00:58:40.500
Chairman of Chaos: way.

519
00:58:40.500 --> 00:58:41.840
Manny: Oh, you're back.

520
00:58:41.840 --> 00:58:49.789
Jeez Louize: And then I turn on the news, and I hear comments like the mayor of Monroe saying, oh, this is just… This is just, left-wing…

521
00:58:49.790 --> 00:58:50.260
Chairman of Chaos: our list.

522
00:58:50.660 --> 00:58:57.370
Chairman of Chaos: Activism, but we're pushing… For a pay increase for all teachers.

523
00:58:57.600 --> 00:59:12.729
Chairman of Chaos: Not once has anybody said, I want teachers that are Democrats to get a pay raise. Nope. I want teachers that are Republican to get a pay raise. I want teachers out west only to get a pay raise. I want teachers in our big cities only.

524
00:59:12.760 --> 00:59:21.430
Chairman of Chaos: To get a pay raise. Your town has to have a public university or college to be able to get a pay raise. No, this is for everybody.

525
00:59:21.430 --> 00:59:22.010
Jeez Louize: Everybody.

526
00:59:22.010 --> 00:59:24.109
Chairman of Chaos: Call it anything, call it socialism.

527
00:59:25.020 --> 00:59:27.850
Chairman of Chaos: And even then, I'mma call you an idiot.

528
00:59:28.160 --> 00:59:39.810
Chairman of Chaos: But… but let's… let's not… Let's not mislabel this, because we're trying to get more money to help… Shoot!

529
00:59:40.070 --> 00:59:49.880
Chairman of Chaos: It's helping… well, it's not helping their children, because they want to put their children in private school, and let's separate them from everyone else.

530
00:59:50.790 --> 00:59:54.179
Chairman of Chaos: Well, we're trying to… they're… they're… they're serving…

531
00:59:54.450 --> 01:00:01.450
Chairman of Chaos: Republican children, Democratic children, independent children, Christians, Muslims.

532
01:00:01.450 --> 01:00:02.680
Manny: Hindu.

533
01:00:03.460 --> 01:00:04.849
Chairman of Chaos: I mean, I'm pretty sure there's…

534
01:00:04.850 --> 01:00:12.260
Manny: There's not a… there's not a political affiliation box on the paperwork you got assigned to enroll your child in school.

535
01:00:12.260 --> 01:00:13.160
Chairman of Chaos: Absolutely not.

536
01:00:13.160 --> 01:00:13.670
Jeez Louize: Nope.

537
01:00:13.670 --> 01:00:14.270
Chairman of Chaos: Absolutely not.

538
01:00:14.450 --> 01:00:19.270
Jeez Louize: Like, like she said, that you can't get rid of diversity because it's there.

539
01:00:19.500 --> 01:00:27.830
Jeez Louize: But it's an issue that people just so much… I just can't understand why we all… can we all just get along?

540
01:00:28.560 --> 01:00:30.359
Jeez Louize: On this one issue.

541
01:00:30.360 --> 01:00:32.080
Chairman of Chaos: For the key! For the cheer!

542
01:00:32.310 --> 01:00:32.920
Manny: Pretty chilling.

543
01:00:32.920 --> 01:00:33.530
Jeez Louize: We can't do it.

544
01:00:33.530 --> 01:00:36.269
Manny: The kids? I believe the children.

545
01:00:36.270 --> 01:00:37.550
Chairman of Chaos: Children, all of them?

546
01:00:37.550 --> 01:00:38.890
Jeez Louize: future.

547
01:00:38.890 --> 01:00:40.649
Chairman of Chaos: They don't. And they don't.

548
01:00:41.070 --> 01:00:43.680
Jeez Louize: But… Heaven forbid!

549
01:00:44.020 --> 01:00:47.429
Jeez Louize: We start getting into pro-life, like I've told you before.

550
01:00:47.700 --> 01:00:52.860
Jeez Louize: Heaven forbid, you don't do none of that, baby, why it's in that belly, but when they come out.

551
01:00:53.500 --> 01:01:03.079
Jeez Louize: We got… we got one of the worst… we got one of the worst lives for you to live. We don't care about your education, we don't care about if you eat, we don't… but we pro-life them.

552
01:01:03.580 --> 01:01:04.019
Manny: If we go.

553
01:01:04.020 --> 01:01:04.420
Chairman of Chaos: Yeah.

554
01:01:04.420 --> 01:01:05.400
Manny: pro-life.

555
01:01:05.700 --> 01:01:07.939
Manny: We gotta be pro-whole life.

556
01:01:08.630 --> 01:01:09.460
Manny: Whole life.

557
01:01:09.460 --> 01:01:11.279
Chairman of Chaos: Debit Insurance.

558
01:01:11.750 --> 01:01:13.959
Manny: Right? Not at all.

559
01:01:15.350 --> 01:01:20.139
Chairman of Chaos: No, man, this is crazy. It's crazy, it's frustrating.

560
01:01:20.580 --> 01:01:21.500
Jeez Louize: Yes.

561
01:01:21.780 --> 01:01:22.980
Chairman of Chaos: Man.

562
01:01:22.980 --> 01:01:29.740
Jeez Louize: But the thing about it, Chuck, is that in all of it, all of this frustration, and we get it secondhand, because we have.

563
01:01:29.740 --> 01:01:30.330
Chairman of Chaos: Oh, yes.

564
01:01:30.330 --> 01:01:36.540
Jeez Louize: A connection, but… The… the direct frustration is… is so real.

565
01:01:37.270 --> 01:01:43.019
Jeez Louize: And I just… I… again, those that are making decisions are lawmakers.

566
01:01:43.170 --> 01:01:45.129
Jeez Louize: Before it's too late.

567
01:01:45.990 --> 01:01:48.439
Jeez Louize: Make the right decision before you lose.

568
01:01:49.670 --> 01:01:54.780
Jeez Louize: out on people that have a heart of gold like Ms. Kelly. She's not the only one. She's the president.

569
01:01:54.780 --> 01:01:55.340
Chairman of Chaos: Oh, no.

570
01:01:55.340 --> 01:01:56.190
Jeez Louize: the AIA.

571
01:01:56.190 --> 01:01:56.740
Chairman of Chaos: Oh, no.

572
01:01:56.840 --> 01:02:02.110
Jeez Louize: But let me tell you, There's so many… a great teacher…

573
01:02:02.510 --> 01:02:10.460
Jeez Louize: a good teacher is so pivotal to a child. Everyone can think back that has been in public school that can point to at least that one teacher that was like.

574
01:02:10.650 --> 01:02:12.759
Jeez Louize: Yeah, he or she was the one.

575
01:02:13.140 --> 01:02:30.759
Jeez Louize: he or she… she was tough on me, he was tough on me, but… hey, I remember some of those things still today in my adulthood. Those are the impact the teacher… I have a friend of mine who, her first student that she, one of her, first students that she taught graduated college, invited her to the graduation.

576
01:02:31.080 --> 01:02:34.929
Jeez Louize: Right? She taught her, you know, years ago.

577
01:02:34.930 --> 01:02:35.250
Chairman of Chaos: Yeah.

578
01:02:35.250 --> 01:02:42.499
Jeez Louize: I was like, no, I graduated college, I want you to come. A girl that my wife taught in middle school, elementary school, excuse me.

579
01:02:42.710 --> 01:02:46.930
Jeez Louize: She played sports at high school. On her senior night when they walked on the field.

580
01:02:47.040 --> 01:02:50.999
Jeez Louize: She asked my wife to walk her. Not a mother, not a grandmother.

581
01:02:51.330 --> 01:03:01.650
Jeez Louize: asked my wife to walk her, because of how influential and pivotal she was, because she caught her at a time where homegirl just wanted to throw hands, fighting, trying to get an education.

582
01:03:02.000 --> 01:03:05.830
Jeez Louize: My wife won't plan that. I'm sure with your wife, Chuck, and the children that she's been.

583
01:03:05.830 --> 01:03:06.600
Chairman of Chaos: Oh, bruh.

584
01:03:06.600 --> 01:03:06.980
Jeez Louize: read.

585
01:03:06.990 --> 01:03:07.520
Chairman of Chaos: Bruh.

586
01:03:07.520 --> 01:03:17.160
Jeez Louize: These people can only do it in the condition that they're doing it in, because it's not for any other motive but the fact that they love these kids, they have.

587
01:03:17.160 --> 01:03:17.649
Manny: Good job.

588
01:03:17.650 --> 01:03:26.130
Jeez Louize: of gold, and it's not about the pay, it's not about the condition, it's about the lives of the… if they can reach one.

589
01:03:26.810 --> 01:03:27.810
Chairman of Chaos: His brother.

590
01:03:27.810 --> 01:03:29.119
Jeez Louize: It makes it all worth it.

591
01:03:29.580 --> 01:03:30.690
Chairman of Chaos: And will you be happy?

592
01:03:30.690 --> 01:03:34.109
Jeez Louize: like that out there fighting on that field, you gotta take care of them, because what.

593
01:03:34.110 --> 01:03:34.490
Chairman of Chaos: I had to.

594
01:03:34.490 --> 01:03:36.489
Jeez Louize: when you lose them? What happens when you lose them?

595
01:03:37.100 --> 01:03:38.590
Chairman of Chaos: Man, you…

596
01:03:38.760 --> 01:03:44.790
Chairman of Chaos: You said so much there, I actually have to constantly remind my wife, you can't bring them home.

597
01:03:45.110 --> 01:03:45.700
Chairman of Chaos: Bro.

598
01:03:45.700 --> 01:03:46.200
Jeez Louize: They bring them home.

599
01:03:46.200 --> 01:03:51.190
Chairman of Chaos: Because they win. My house will be packed.

600
01:03:51.190 --> 01:03:54.830
Jeez Louize: I'm wondering… I'm wondering why my, why my Capri Sun going out the fridge.

601
01:03:56.120 --> 01:03:59.059
Chairman of Chaos: My whole box of Uncrustables go.

602
01:03:59.600 --> 01:04:06.979
Jeez Louize: Bro, I was looking for some Ziploc bags the other day. I'm like, yo, I just know I bought a whole bag of quart-sized Ziploc bags. My wife was like, oh, I took them to school for the kids. Hey, man.

603
01:04:06.980 --> 01:04:08.550
Chairman of Chaos: Yeah, man. I love the kids.

604
01:04:09.370 --> 01:04:11.100
Jeez Louize: I'll bring my boss back home.

605
01:04:11.100 --> 01:04:18.999
Manny: The average North Carolina teacher, or the average, is spending $1,600 of their own money.

606
01:04:19.000 --> 01:04:28.909
Chairman of Chaos: Listen, I'm not in North Carolina, but I can believe it. Like, I think I mentioned on here before, my wife had the Amazon listing, her email.

607
01:04:29.860 --> 01:04:48.270
Chairman of Chaos: she was going to Sam's Club buying stuff. She still, to this day, she goes and, she'll go to Rose's and buy out, not just buy some. Take everything that's on the shelf for nabs, little, crackers, the little lemon ones.

608
01:04:48.480 --> 01:04:49.589
Chairman of Chaos: Buy them out.

609
01:04:50.040 --> 01:04:52.910
Chairman of Chaos: go to Sam's and buying Pop-Tarts.

610
01:04:52.910 --> 01:04:53.530
Manny: Hmm.

611
01:04:53.710 --> 01:04:59.430
Chairman of Chaos: Because of the passion and love and care that she has for these kids, knowing that

612
01:05:00.190 --> 01:05:03.360
Chairman of Chaos: Sometimes they might not eat anything but what she provides to them.

613
01:05:03.360 --> 01:05:03.850
Manny: Yeah.

614
01:05:03.850 --> 01:05:04.350
Jeez Louize: Bruh.

615
01:05:04.350 --> 01:05:20.519
Chairman of Chaos: And I want to acknowledge this, and I don't know if the family or if his daughter will hear this, but if she does or doesn't, I want to give him acknowledgement. Just recently, one of the teachers who was impactful

616
01:05:20.670 --> 01:05:26.010
Chairman of Chaos: in my life, but also the entire school, John Haynes passed, and…

617
01:05:26.500 --> 01:05:31.479
Chairman of Chaos: In high school, y'all can attest to this, there's not many Black men.

618
01:05:31.480 --> 01:05:32.180
Manny: Very true.

619
01:05:32.180 --> 01:05:39.489
Chairman of Chaos: In the school system, period, but in high school. And so, Mr. Haynes and Mrs. Haynes, who she passed a couple years ago.

620
01:05:40.200 --> 01:05:48.859
Chairman of Chaos: Super influential in the school, where many of the students didn't even have them as teachers, because they were…

621
01:05:49.020 --> 01:05:52.200
Chairman of Chaos: auxiliary teachers. They weren't even primary course teachers.

622
01:05:52.200 --> 01:05:52.790
Jeez Louize: Mmm.

623
01:05:52.790 --> 01:06:02.180
Chairman of Chaos: And so… but just their presence, particularly Mr. Haynes. Mr. Haynes was a big guy. He… probably was not manning height. He… just…

624
01:06:02.540 --> 01:06:10.610
Chairman of Chaos: a giant, but a… A man of few words, but when he spoke, Literally.

625
01:06:10.610 --> 01:06:11.260
Manny: Listen.

626
01:06:11.500 --> 01:06:16.840
Chairman of Chaos: And he held… he held people accountable, and it's teachers like that who…

627
01:06:17.580 --> 01:06:22.489
Chairman of Chaos: all the years later, like, Mrs. Haynes was my DECA advisor.

628
01:06:23.150 --> 01:06:26.590
Chairman of Chaos: And she never was my teacher, I never took her class.

629
01:06:26.830 --> 01:06:33.470
Chairman of Chaos: But she was my DECA advisor, and the impact that she had on my life, just being my advisor in that program.

630
01:06:33.820 --> 01:06:38.890
Chairman of Chaos: you have those, and like you said, Jesus, you're pushing them away.

631
01:06:39.140 --> 01:06:39.610
Manny: Yeah.

632
01:06:39.610 --> 01:06:42.079
Chairman of Chaos: They're not wanting to leave, they're being pushed away.

633
01:06:42.080 --> 01:06:42.889
Jeez Louize: Forced out.

634
01:06:43.510 --> 01:06:45.769
Chairman of Chaos: It's sad, man. It's sad.

635
01:06:45.770 --> 01:07:04.110
Jeez Louize: reality, but, you know, it blessed me tremendously to hear the heart and the passion and desire that Miss Kelly has, and, you know, I hope those that are of the likeness of her, that still have a desire, a love.

636
01:07:04.230 --> 01:07:11.369
Jeez Louize: In spite of the landscape that our lawmakers are putting you, in, and expecting you to perform in.

637
01:07:11.870 --> 01:07:17.599
Jeez Louize: You know, just know here at the pod, the boys appreciate and understand.

638
01:07:17.600 --> 01:07:17.950
Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

639
01:07:17.950 --> 01:07:22.090
Jeez Louize: What you… what you're dealing with, maybe not in totality.

640
01:07:22.240 --> 01:07:27.139
Jeez Louize: But certainly, we understand that you are up against a big fight, and…

641
01:07:27.140 --> 01:07:27.490
Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

642
01:07:27.660 --> 01:07:31.370
Jeez Louize: Every day you show up, even when you're devalued.

643
01:07:31.740 --> 01:07:34.690
Jeez Louize: When you're feeling like your voice isn't heard.

644
01:07:35.320 --> 01:07:41.130
Jeez Louize: We certainly hear you, and if there was anything that the Boys Hit the Pod could do, trust me, we'd do it for you.

645
01:07:41.530 --> 01:07:43.110
Chairman of Chaos: And Jeezy also…

646
01:07:43.310 --> 01:07:49.550
Chairman of Chaos: What people don't realize, and we didn't really get into this, on the personal end of her life.

647
01:07:49.690 --> 01:07:51.220
Chairman of Chaos: She has a family at home.

648
01:07:51.620 --> 01:07:52.410
Jeez Louize: Right. Yeah.

649
01:07:52.610 --> 01:07:59.810
Chairman of Chaos: That she, she, she still is, is there for, and still shows… Like most, like most of them, yeah, for sure.

650
01:07:59.810 --> 01:08:00.240
Jeez Louize: Like, more…

651
01:08:00.240 --> 01:08:07.019
Chairman of Chaos: But, you know, the weight, you know, we want to cover her in prayer, but the weight that she carries

652
01:08:07.290 --> 01:08:11.970
Chairman of Chaos: And, and her, and her cohort, Yep.

653
01:08:12.110 --> 01:08:19.409
Chairman of Chaos: Those who work with her in the NCAE, in this fight, in this struggle, because…

654
01:08:19.899 --> 01:08:38.109
Chairman of Chaos: you see the Monroe mayor throwing the shots, and, you know, I'm sure there are different individuals in the legislature that throw the shots and they get ridiculed, and they're just fighting for the kids. Fighting for the kids and for educators to have better.

655
01:08:38.479 --> 01:08:39.300
Manny: Right.

656
01:08:39.380 --> 01:08:40.179
Chairman of Chaos: To have been…

657
01:08:40.189 --> 01:08:44.539
Jeez Louize: The wild part about it is most of them that make those comments are product.

658
01:08:44.719 --> 01:08:47.149
Jeez Louize: A public school, but they kids ain't in it.

659
01:08:47.430 --> 01:08:48.240
Chairman of Chaos: Nope.

660
01:08:49.290 --> 01:08:50.519
Jeez Louize: They kids ain't in it at all.

661
01:08:51.720 --> 01:08:52.620
Chairman of Chaos: Brother.

662
01:08:52.620 --> 01:08:54.880
Jeez Louize: because I know that I grew up…

663
01:08:55.109 --> 01:09:00.599
Jeez Louize: an old Baptist church, and they always said it was bad to try to come behind and preach somebody that didn't already.

664
01:09:00.609 --> 01:09:01.449
Chairman of Chaos: I was yelling.

665
01:09:01.450 --> 01:09:01.800
Manny: Rip.

666
01:09:01.800 --> 01:09:02.330
Chairman of Chaos: That's right.

667
01:09:02.560 --> 01:09:03.140
Manny: And that's…

668
01:09:03.149 --> 01:09:03.709
Chairman of Chaos: That's right.

669
01:09:05.479 --> 01:09:06.069
Chairman of Chaos: Is it…

670
01:09:06.069 --> 01:09:07.369
Jeez Louize: It's already been brought forth.

671
01:09:07.370 --> 01:09:10.889
Chairman of Chaos: And then she preached? She preached. That girl preached.

672
01:09:10.899 --> 01:09:15.499
Jeez Louize: Did she not preach our hearts gold? She sure did, brother, I appreciate her.

673
01:09:15.949 --> 01:09:17.539
Jeez Louize: The old folks would say.

674
01:09:17.540 --> 01:09:19.269
Chairman of Chaos: Oh, from the stage.

675
01:09:19.270 --> 01:09:29.990
Jeez Louize: Man, let me tell you, she continued to fight. Those that are out there, continue to fight, and if you're listening to this in the public education field, whether it's a teacher.

676
01:09:30.740 --> 01:09:31.100
Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

677
01:09:31.100 --> 01:09:35.980
Jeez Louize: Regardless of the state, I know we talked about North Carolina, but this is for all.

678
01:09:36.180 --> 01:09:39.079
Jeez Louize: You know, if there's anything that we can do.

679
01:09:39.210 --> 01:09:45.529
Jeez Louize: To support you, whether it's to give you a space to… to share what you are experiencing in your state.

680
01:09:45.770 --> 01:09:48.030
Jeez Louize: As a, as a public educator.

681
01:09:49.460 --> 01:10:01.130
Jeez Louize: let us know here at the podcast. We don't mind helping. And we support not just our teachers as well, too, just everyone that's in the public school system. The administration is important.

682
01:10:01.130 --> 01:10:01.480
Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

683
01:10:01.480 --> 01:10:02.720
Jeez Louize: Wrestlers are important.

684
01:10:02.720 --> 01:10:03.150
Chairman of Chaos: Yes. I don't…

685
01:10:03.150 --> 01:10:07.330
Jeez Louize: what you say, but a lot of folks take it for granted, but them janitors, those custodians.

686
01:10:07.590 --> 01:10:08.110
Chairman of Chaos: Bro.

687
01:10:08.110 --> 01:10:09.990
Jeez Louize: Hey, look, I had a couple…

688
01:10:09.990 --> 01:10:11.879
Chairman of Chaos: Yes, sir.

689
01:10:11.880 --> 01:10:15.469
Jeez Louize: They were like uncles, man, they didn't play them games, you know, so…

690
01:10:15.470 --> 01:10:21.310
Chairman of Chaos: I remember when Mr. Tyrone Hill, he ain't played… No games.

691
01:10:21.310 --> 01:10:24.229
Jeez Louize: Hey, look, come in that bathroom quick, hey, y'all cut all that noise out.

692
01:10:24.890 --> 01:10:27.650
Chairman of Chaos: What y'all doing here? What y'all doing here?

693
01:10:29.810 --> 01:10:34.950
Jeez Louize: But the beauty, and I know for us, man, for being product of public schools, man, it's…

694
01:10:35.330 --> 01:10:46.980
Jeez Louize: I wouldn't change it for the world. That's why I love her response, that if she could tell her younger self, if she would teach, and I love that she even added on top of it, yes, I would continue to teach, and I'd still teach in North Carolina.

695
01:10:46.990 --> 01:10:58.100
Jeez Louize: I love that. I love that. It shaped my life and my childhood, and some of the greatest memories I have is in the public school system. So, with that being said, brothers.

696
01:10:58.180 --> 01:11:01.429
Jeez Louize: This special edition was a treat, to our.

697
01:11:01.430 --> 01:11:02.210
Chairman of Chaos: Yes.

698
01:11:02.360 --> 01:11:17.399
Jeez Louize: I hope it was a treat to you as well. Certainly wish we could have dived in more, but we appreciate the gems and the nuggets of wisdom that Ms. Kelly gave us, and brothers, I'm gonna ask, any, anything else? All hearts and minds clear?

699
01:11:17.830 --> 01:11:19.760
Chairman of Chaos: Man, I'm full.

700
01:11:19.900 --> 01:11:21.440
Chairman of Chaos: I mean, it's a…

701
01:11:21.440 --> 01:11:22.279
Jeez Louize: It's good for…

702
01:11:22.280 --> 01:11:25.560
Chairman of Chaos: came through, the preacher came through, and I'm a fool.

703
01:11:27.190 --> 01:11:29.690
Jeez Louize: Yes, indeed, my brother Manny, you good, brother?

704
01:11:29.690 --> 01:11:30.860
Manny: All good here.

705
01:11:31.160 --> 01:11:49.969
Jeez Louize: Good, good, good. Well, to our listeners, we hope you enjoyed this special edition, for us, this treat that, we were so, so fortunate to have the opportunity to do. And, again, anyone else within the, the private school, I mean, the public school system that would love, to share anything, reach out to us.

706
01:11:49.970 --> 01:11:52.260
Chairman of Chaos: We like to hear from the private school people, too.

707
01:11:52.260 --> 01:11:54.149
Jeez Louize: Oh, yeah, well, yeah, yeah, yeah, anybody.

708
01:11:54.150 --> 01:11:55.450
Chairman of Chaos: We will talk with you.

709
01:11:55.890 --> 01:12:13.840
Jeez Louize: Equal opportunity. Equal opportunity. So, to our listeners, we hope this special edition finds you in the best place, the best space possible, and place possible. And, remember, as always, if don't nobody love you, just know the boys here at the pod, we love you, we love you, we love you, and we'll see you at the next episode. Take care.

710
01:12:13.840 --> 01:12:14.389
Manny: and like…

711
01:12:14.390 --> 01:12:14.880
Chairman of Chaos: Me neither.

712
01:12:14.880 --> 01:12:15.800
Manny: and follow.

713
01:12:16.350 --> 01:12:17.050
Jeez Louize: Definitely.

714
01:12:17.050 --> 01:12:18.390
Chairman of Chaos: Do that.

715
01:12:18.390 --> 01:12:21.070
Manny: Peace. Thank you, guys.

716
01:12:21.070 --> 01:12:22.180
Chairman of Chaos: Jeez.