The public education situation in North Carolina is about to change under a new two-year budget that will apparently be approved within the next few days. The Republican-led House and Senate on Sunday reached a compromise on a $20.6 billion state budget that would, among other things:
- end teacher tenure and employ teachers based on renewable contracts
- allow taxpayer money to be spent for tuition (“opportunity scholarships”) at private schools
- provide no raise for state employees but give them five bonus leave days
- fully fund the state retirement system and state health plan
You can read the final draft of the bill here and the accompanying “money report” here (PDF).
For an interesting mention of Teach For America, see page 21 of the money report. The spending plan allocates $5.1 million in FY 2014 and the same in FY 2015 for TFA, which it calls “an organization that focuses on new teacher recruitment, training and placement in high-need school districts. Funds will support the establishment of a TFA program in the Triad region, growth of existing efforts in Southeastern North Carolina, targeted subject-specific recruitment, and the assumption of management responsibilities for the NC Teacher Corps program beginning in FY 2014-15.”
Both the House and Senate are expected to give the spending plan at least tentative approval on July 23 and send it to GOP Gov Pat McCrory’s desk later this week. Mr McCrory, who took office in January, would almost certainly sign it.
In addition to the funding for TFA, the bill would also allocate about $19 million to implement the Excellent Public Schools Act, here. This program is designed to ensure that all third graders are reading at an appropriate level.
“Together, members of the House and Senate have carefully crafted a plan that smartly invests in key priorities like education and public safety while fulfilling our shared commitment to fiscal responsibility and accountability in state government,” WRAL-TV (CBS affiliate) quoted Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger as saying in a statement.
But some liberal politicians aren’t convinced the budget will lead to improvements in state government priorities like education.
“Lawmakers chose to drain available revenues by $524 million over the next two years through an ill-advised series of tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy and profitable corporations,” wrote Alexandra Forter Sirota, director of the North Carolina Budget and Tax Center, which has been critical of the Republican-led legislature.
They can be heard saying the budget will put North Carolina’s students and schools on a “path toward mediocrity.”
The budget, if approved, would most likely reduce the number of teachers and increase class sizes across North Carolina. The most direct cause of these outcomes is the increase in the ratios used for determining the funds allocated to schools by the state. Higher ratios would reduce total funding for classroom teachers and could force schools to cut teachers unless they find other funding sources.
Some estimates put the projected loss of teachers across the state, strictly as a result of the ratio change, at about 5,200 teachers. But on top of those likely reductions in teaching staff, the plan would also cut funding for teachers assistants by 21 percent in FY 2014 and by an additional 19 percent in FY 2015.
On moral grounds, we are against the use of public funds to pay for education at private schools. Not only does this divert money away from public schools, but it also impairs the operation of private, religious schools. I quoted Baptist minister C Welton Gaddy, who also serves as the president of the Interfaith Alliance, almost a year ago:
What often gets lost in the conversation around school vouchers is the negative impact they can have on religious schools. In the short term, having new revenue streams is of course helpful to private schools, but the fact is that with government money comes government regulation, which can open religious schools up to all kinds of threats to their autonomy that it is in religion’s best interest to avoid.
In other words, not only should public education advocates like Diane Ravitch on her blog, here, be opposed to North Carolina’s new funding plan; religious leaders should also be very careful about where they get their money. It might look good now, but in the long run, this is the beginning of the end for high-quality private education in North Carolina.
