RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina politicians and lawmakers are responding after Former President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts in a criminal trial on Thursday in New York City.

The trial marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges. The charges were all related to a 2016 hush money payment Trump made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

North Carolina Congressman Wiley Nickel, a Democrat, said in a statement he was “glad to finally have some honesty” with regard to Trump.

“Here’s the thing: The American people have been lied to enough by the former President. It’s no wonder that trust in government is at an all-time low,” said Congressman Wiley Nickel. “I’m glad to finally have some honesty and truth from this verdict so that our country can begin to heal from President Trump’s divisive rhetoric and extremism. Donald Trump should never be in a position of power again.”

LIVE BLOG: Latest updates from Donald Trump’s hush money trial

On the other side of the aisle, Sen. Thom Tillis wrote on social media that he was shocked by the jury’s verdict, and said he felt the trial was politically motivated.

“I am shocked by the verdict considering that this case should have never been brought forward. From the beginning, it was clear that a radical, politically-motivated state prosecutor was using the full weight of his office to go after President Trump at the same time he turned a blind eye to violent criminals. I expect and hope that President Trump will appeal this verdict to address fundamental questions, including whether President Trump received a fair trial and whether the Manhattan D.A. even had jurisdiction on a federal election matter.”

Tillis’ shock was also met by NCGOP Chairman Jason SImmons who wrote :

“The lawfare perpetrated by far-left Democrats, from President Biden down to the Manhattan DA, has reached its inevitable sad conclusion. Today’s sham verdict is a stain on the rule of law and a grotesque attack on President Trump, his family, & all citizens who value due process.”

Congressman Don Davis, who represents North Carolina’s 1st district, also released a statement in response to the jury’s verdict.

“Our country operates under the rule of law. The jury, with the most intimate knowledge of the case, has delivered its verdict, and former President Donald Trump now has the right to seek an appeal.”

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who was formally endorsed by Trump during a rally in Greensboro, said the trial is being used by Democrats as a way to weaponize the government against the former president, and called it a “sham.”

“The Democrats know they can’t beat President Trump at the polls so they weaponize our government against him. The voters should decide this election and I believe we will reject this sham trial by putting President Donald Trump back in office this November.”

This is a developing story.

In 2023 state policymakers were confronted with alarming data: teacher vacancies had hit record highs. Not only did 1 in every 18 classrooms lack a licensed teacher, but districts serving the greatest share of Black students and students from families with low incomes faced the greatest shortages. In other words, the teacher shortage had reached crisis levels, demanding a dramatic response from lawmakers.

Sadly, that response never came. Now the teacher vacancy problem has gotten worse.

On the 40^th day of the 2023-24 school year, 6,006 classroom teaching positions were vacant, smashing the prior year’s record by 18 percent. This year, more than one in every 16 lacked a licensed teacher over a month into the school year.

These vacancies continue to be associated with the demographics of the district. Districts with more students from families with low incomes and districts with more Black students tend to experience higher teacher vacancy rates. The association has grown even more stark this year.

As a result, it’s disproportionately Black students and economically disadvantaged students who pay the price for lawmakers’ unwillingness to make the necessary investments to attract and retain certified teachers in every classroom.

Of course, all students suffer from teacher vacancies. And it’s not just the students assigned to an unlicensed teacher.

Teacher vacancies increase the demands on the teachers who have persisted despite state policymakers’ efforts to drive them from the classroom. Vacancies create larger class sizes. They require experienced teachers to assist untrained, novice teachers and to fill in when substitutes are nowhere to be found. This leaves our best teachers with less time to lesson plan, individualize instruction, assist less experienced colleagues, or find regular opportunities to decompress from an increasingly difficult, stressful job.

As vacancies rise year after year, an increasing number of teachers are taking on more responsibilities to fill in the holes.

It should come as no surprise that North Carolina’s teacher vacancy problem has worsened. The 2023 budget failed to include any meaningful efforts to reverse their war on the teaching profession. In spite of the teacher shortage crisis, legislators cut public school budgets and provided meager pay raises of only 3.6 percent, barely keeping pace with inflation. Average teacher pay is 23 percent below the national average. Our schools remain among the worst-funded in America, and our teachers continue to earn salaries that dramatically trail their peers in other industries.

Legislators know that teachers remain the most important in-school factor for boosting academic achievement. Yet they have instead chosen to prioritize a massive expansion of the state’s private school voucher program to benefit wealthy families already enrolled in private schools. While investments in teachers have been shown to boost academic performance, statewide voucher programs have produced unprecedented drops in test scores for voucher students.

The voucher expansion also sends a clear message to public school teachers: state leaders would rather subsidize their wealthy donors than provide teachers with competitive salaries, repair dilapidated school buildings, or give teachers adequate support staff such as teacher assistants, nurses, and school psychologists.

Legislators’ failure to support teachers and improve their working conditions is at the heart of the long-running Leandro court case, which requires that all children have access to highly qualified teachers. The case has spurred a detailed, research-based, multi-year plan to increase investments in educators and students in order to provide the basic level of schooling promised under our state constitution. Unfortunately, legislative leaders have fought tooth and nail to get the plan thrown out by the courts, sending educators (and students) another clear message: they’re uninterested in making things better.

The legislature has continued to meddle in how teachers can do their jobs. The Parents’ Bill of Rights creates purposefully ambiguous restrictions on how teachers approach subjects related to sexual identity and limits their ability to support trans students or others exploring their gender identity. The bill also allows bad actors to file information requests and objections to instructional materials, chilling instruction on controversial subjects while taking up teachers’ limited time and resources.

Other bills targeting teachers’ instructional practices could be revived this year. For example, HB 187, which seeks to create a chilling effect around an honest teaching of history and current events, is awaiting action in the state senate. Additionally, a high-profile public official has referred to educators as “wicked people” and believes teachers are indoctrinating their students.

Is it any wonder that teacher vacancies continue to rise?

It doesn’t have to be this way. There are several obvious steps that the legislature could take to attract and retain excellent, well-trained professionals in every classroom:

• Large, across-the-board pay raises
• Proper staffing levels for support staff such as teacher assistants, psychologists, nurses, counselors, and social workers
• Capital improvements to ensure each school offers a healthy, inviting learning environment
• Restoration of professional development and early career mentoring funds

Not coincidentally, these are all elements of the Leandro Plan.

If legislators want to address the teacher vacancy crisis, they can and must implement evidence-based policies. Using research-backed strategies would break down barriers that make academic success more difficult for Black students and students from families with low incomes. It’s time to work together with our teachers to support and uplift them.

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