Daily Update April 15, 2026 - Making Teachers Work

North Carolina’s teachers’ union is planning a May 1 “Kids over Corporations” rally on a school day, demanding more spending, an end to tax breaks, and killing school vouchers — all while expecting parents to accept classroom walkouts as business as usual. Some counties are already closing schools, but New Hanover’s board refused to change the calendar, and this update argues any teacher who abandons students for a political stunt should also forfeit their job.

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Telling teachers to be at work. Great idea. This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The North Carolina Association of Educators, NCAE, has scheduled a rally entitled Kids Over Corporations on Friday, May 1. Their stated goals? Put kids first by investing $20,000 per student in public education, end corporate tax breaks and school vouchers, and, of course, the great catch-all, reclaim our democracy. Since the rally is held on a Friday, a school day, teachers will need to either request time off or just walk off the job, because, of course, kids come first. Multiple counties across the state caved to the planned walkout. Cumberland announced they will close schools that day, as will Vance County, all because of the number of teacher vacancies. The number of counties will probably grow. At a specially called meeting yesterday, however, the New Hanover County Board of Education voted 5-1 against changing the school calendar to accommodate teachers going to this rally. In casting her vote, board member Josie Barnhart put it this way, The idea that we would even consider adjusting our calendar to accommodate politically motivated protests is deeply troubling. It sends the message that political pressure is more important than educating students. She is absolutely correct. The very fact that the NCAE scheduled a protest on a weekday instead of a weekend, you know, when kids are not in school, shows that the teacher union is all about disruption and creating political pressure through chaos. Notwithstanding the fact that their stated goals are completely and totally out to lunch, the teachers think by closing schools by the amount of unavailable educators will force a change in Raleigh. The only change that should come about as the result of teachers walking off the job is their employment status. No valid and approved request for the day off, no valid doctor's note should equal only one thing, no more job. Any educator who would ditch his or her own students to attend a teacher tantrum designed to create disruption is not a person we would want teaching our students in the first place. For the Wilmington Standard, I'm Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.