We have come full circle again after 25 years to a place where many local educational agencies across the nation are taking a more assertive tact in recruiting teachers. This is happening in North Carolina as well. Many counties are offering sign-on supplements and other attractive supplements and stipends that will ultimately cause new teachers to choose those locations over ours if we are not willing to become more progressive in our attempts to make Jackson County a promising teaching arena for new professionals. We have maintained a standard that is competitive only because our schools are full of professionals who, above all else, are committed to the process of teaching. We need to focus on recruiting and maintaining the good teachers in Jackson County or that will not continue.
Buildings are important.
Books are important. But those things do not teach our kids. It is really as simple as that. There is almost unanimous opposition to this proposal in Speedwell, and considerable opposition in Forest Hills itself. It is difficult to understand how Forest Hills, made up generally of recent transplants from other areas, could impose itself on a community where many of its residents were born and raised, and many who prefer to live in the country instead of in a city-like subdivision.