For those who missed it, earlier this week a Charlotte-area science teacher wrote the entire North Carolina General Assembly with a simple message--if you really appreciate what teachers do, give them a pay raise for the first time in six years. State senator David Curtis, a Republican who represents some suburban territory north of Charlotte, emailed her back to say, in so many words, that she should be grateful for all the perks she gets as a teacher--including eight weeks' vacation. But in Curtis' eyes, she wouldn't know because of the lies the teacher's union is telling her. That email was not only pompous and arrogant, but also wrong. There is no teacher's union in this state--as state employees, teachers are barred from bargaining collectively under the state constitution. Also, that vacation is unpaid, forcing teachers to get by on 10 months' salary. I diaried on this here.
Curtis has gotten kicked up, down and sideways on his Facebook page--unless I missed something, there has been virtually no comment supporting him. And yet, he's gone silent ever since this broke on Tuesday. It says a lot about him, I think.
The most benign interpretation of Curtis' silence is that he must think that since he has nothing to worry about in November, he can afford not to respond. Curtis is running unopposed for reelection, and his district would be a heavy lift for a Democrat short of a complete statewide or national meltdown--indeed, according to Daily Kos Elections' analysis, it's the fifth most Republican district in the entire state. But Curtis is going to have to learn that just because you're in a district that would elect a comatose Republican, you can't avoid accountability. If he doesn't have the decency to apologize, we in North Carolina should make him the face of what the GOP is doing to our state. By giving the gavel to the GOP, we're enabling people like him.