Seventeen years ago, our daughter went to her first day of kindergarten in the Wake County public schools. This week, she went to her first day as a student teacher in the Wake County public schools.

Seventeen years ago, Jim Hunt had just been elected to his fourth term on a promise to raise teacher salaries to the national average. Democrats and Republicans in the legislature had enacted a law and appropriated the money to do it.

North Carolina reached that goal. We got into the top 20 states in teacher pay. Student test scores were rising, and national measures showed North Carolina students making more progress than students in any other state.

Teachers were getting more than pay. They were getting respect. They made more money if they got a master’s degree or earned national board certification. High school graduates could get their college tuition paid if they became teachers.

So much for that.

In five years, the legislature has managed to undo all that good, undermine all that progress and demoralize our best teachers. They’ve driven us down to the bottom 10 states in teacher pay. Governor McCrory adds insult to injury with his insipid video “thanking” teachers.

One teacher, Jen Painter of Carrboro, penned a searing portrait of how teachers feel about their thanks: “…as I prepare to welcome my students back next week on my 15th first day of school, I’m wondering whether it might be my last as a North Carolina schoolteacher.”

After 17 years, we’re hoping the tide turns again. Soon.