NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement Applaud Court Decision

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,

May 16, 2014

Contact: Sarah Bufkin, NC NAACP - smbufkin@gmail.com or 404.285.3413

The North Carolina NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement Applaud Court Decision to Rule Unconstitutional the NC Extremists' Attempt to End Teacher Tenure

DURHAM, NC - In a sweeping victory for North Carolina's teachers and its children, a Wake County judge ruled today that the extremist lawmakers' attempt to end teacher tenure in our state is unconstitutional and issued a permanent injunction against the law that would have given educators a raise in exchange for eliminating their tenure.

The North Carolina NAACP and the Forward Together Moral Movement welcome Judge Robert Hobgood's decision and remain confident that while extremism may flourish in this General Assembly, these morally indefensible laws will not stand when subjected to the strict constitutional scrutiny of our court system.

"Again and again, the courts are reminding the extremists in our General Assembly led by Speaker Thom Tillis that holding an ideological majority does not give you the right or the power to run roughshod over the constitutional protections guaranteed to our public education system and to our public school teachers," said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP and architect of the Forward Together Moral Movement. "The courts moved towards achieving justice in public education 60 years ago in its Brown v. Board of Education decision. The courts are moving towards justice here in North Carolina again 60 years later."

On Monday, May 19, the NC NAACP, the Forward Together Moral Movement, its HKonJ coalition partners and North Carolinians fed up with these extremist policies will join together at Moral Monday in Raleigh to push for pay raises for our teachers that do not require them to give up their tenure and the employment protections that come along with it. 

###