I’ve avoided writing this for a while because I did not want to offend any of my colleagues that are still in the North Carolina education trenches. So all of my NC teacher-friends, please know that I am on your side. But after spending a year teaching outside of North Carolina’s public schools, I think I finally have enough perspective to try and discuss my frustration and troubled relationship with my home state’s public education system. North Carolina public school teachers are not treated like professionals. If I had to explain the biggest difference between my old job and my new job, I could explain it succinctly with that sentence. In North Carolina, I was not treated like a professional. I was not treated like someone who had a degree and a career status license in my subject matter. Teachers are treated more like whining indentured servants (the younger teachers more literally since they are paying back their student loans) and are then told to be thankful that they e