Teachers face same issues

While the state budget saved more than 1,600 teaching jobs, teachers are entering the new school year with still fewer colleagues and fewer supplies than before the budget crisis.

The North Carolina budget is at its lowest in 14 years, and the money allocated for education has become restrictive.

N.C. Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Haywood, a chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, said they had to choose carefully where to spend.

“That was our budget priority, to save teachers and teacher assistant’s positions,” Rapp said.

The budget reallocates money from the N.C. Education Lottery to save teacher’s job. Earlier budget plans had projected numerous teacher cuts.

“No teachers will be put out on the street this year, which shows how far we’ve come from April to July,” Rapp said.

But while jobs have been saved, teachers across the state are still doing more with less.

“I think everyone is breathing a sigh of relief because of the budget saving jobs, but educators have some issues on the horizon that will make next year challenging,” said Vanessa Jeter, spokeswoman for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

She said that while schools are doing the best they can with the money they receive, textbook funds — among other supplies — did not meet needs.

Last year saw the first major teacher cuts, so it is still undetermined as to how that will affect standardized scores, she said.

“We have more public needs in education, and you will see larger classes for teachers and less support for the all the people that help run the school,” she said.

While the general assembly preserved 1,600 teacher jobs, the move did not come without its detractors.

Several opponents within the legislature argued the lottery was never intended for this purpose, and this only cuts off more lottery funds to districts in desperate need of it.

Ran Coble, executive director of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, said many politicians feared that the lottery would be used as a substitute for education in budget-tight years instead of being the intended complement.

“This is the first time North Carolina has done this, and who knows if it will be the last?” Coble said.

Lindalyn Kakadelis, director of the N.C. Education Alliance, said she feels that at this point, teachers and students deserve the option of alternative schools.

“The system is not helping all students,” Kakadelis said. “We have to find ways to help our low-income families and their children’s education. We have to provide them more and better options.”

According to the N.C. School Board, public schools received less from the state’s General Fund in 2009-10 than in 2006-07, even with 30,000 more students.

“There are dedicated and committed people in the system. They are not the problem. The problem is the system is not working.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.