President's Message
The North Carolina Retired School Personnel (NCRSP) is a division of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and represents members who are retired school system employees, both certified and non-certified. NCRSP is organized into 10 geographic regions and 100 local units, with a state office in Raleigh.
NCRSP President’s Message
“As your state president, my primary goal is to make NCRSP a more member-driven organization: (1) Grow our grassroots legislative involvement as our members develop relationships directly with their state legislators; (2) Modernize the Panorama to an award-winning NEA-R publication; (3) Increase our membership by 500 members (5 per local) over the next two years; (4) Launch a Membership Benefit Ambassador Committee to raise the standard of living for all retirees; (5) Strengthen the political voice of retirees through PAC funds; (6) Support the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children; (7) Seek a solution to a navigable and daily updated website -which resulted in the development of a whole new NCRSP site by a member volunteer.
“My vision for growing our membership is to strengthen the voice of our retirees’ needs in the face of 21st century demands with only current 20th century benefits. Colleen Lanier and I both serve as NCRSP’s registered unpaid lobbyists who pursue legal relationships with policymakers so that we become known constituents who have served our state by having nurtured our youth in the educational systems. My purpose in contemporizing Panorama is to make our literature and updates appealing to all readers. If the audience is interested in its visual impact, odds increase that the content will be read and considered. My purpose is to grow our membership base to help Raleigh policymakers notice that we retirees matter.
“The May 2023 release of the Brookings Institute study of voting demographics shows that Americans 65 years of age or older formed the largest ballot group in the last election. If we can also prove that an important segment of voters is part of NCRSP, that factor may be one that cannot be ignored and must be heeded.
“I am grateful to serve as your president, and as those of you who work with me know, our NCRSP leadership team and I are purpose-driven to make a positive difference for North Carolina Retired School Personnel. . . because Retirees Deserve Better.”
Who is Linda Gunter?
Lobbyist for NCRSP, former NC Senator Linda Gunter, retired social studies teacher, once NCAE UniServe Director, always grandmother and chief spokesperson for retired school personnel, fighting for our benefits.
After graduating from Cary High School, Linda Gunter earned a degree in social studies education from High Point College in 1971 and taught at Cary High School from 1971 to 2002. She was known for encouraging civic involvement by her students. In 1988, she received $1,000 along with the John Stevens Excellence in Teaching Award from the Wake Education Foundation. In the fall of 1991, her classes began the Adopt-A-GI project in which students corresponded with local soldiers serving in the Gulf War. Two years later, the project resulted in a student-generated book. Linda has taught social studies: American History, Law and Justice, American Political Process and Vietnam.
Also in 1971, Linda joined NCAE where she has served in various leadership capacities over the past 52 years. She became an Association Representative, and her political involvement began when Wake NCAE encouraged her to attend a precinct meeting. She serves as a Congressional Contact Team member for US Rep. David Price, and a Legislative Contact Team member. Linda chaired various committees for Wake NCAE including the PAC Committee, and she was elected Vice President.
In 1992, Gunter was elected to the North Carolina Senate representing the
36th district with the support of educators in our campaign, winning by about 600 votes. Legislation Linda passed included making wading pools safe for children and requiring an expiration date on all prescriptions. Due to her 100% voting record for public education, Linda received the NCAE A+ Legislator Award.
After retiring from teaching, Linda worked as a UniServ for Wake NCAE. The next year she moved to the NCAE Government Relations Office as a Legislative Specialist, lobbying in the General Assembly. She also recruited the Legislative Contact Team members and managed all the NCAE endorsements statewide.
In 2014, Linda was recruited to run for Wake RSP President and served two terms. In 2018, she ran for NCRSP Vice President and served two terms. She continued her service on the State Legislative Committee working to expand our lobbying efforts. Earlier in 2022, she worked with an ad hoc group to develop a statewide PAC fundraising effort which raised $21,035.95. In addition, she has diligently worked to improve the Panorama as a member of the communication committee.
Governor Cooper appointed Linda as the retired member on the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement Board of Trustees where she learned about our retirement and shared it with our NCRSP members (2018-2023). Linda resigned from this position to register as NCRSP’s lobbyist.
In 2019, Governor Cooper honored Linda Gunter with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
Linda states, “The leadership opportunities provided by NEA, NCAE and NCRSP, have given me the skills to serve as your president. When I first joined, I had no idea I was making a lifetime commitment to the Association and its members, but it continues to be a noble and rewarding cause.”