May 22, 2013
By Bob Geary
By Bob Geary
...Education, (click here) including the UNC system and the community colleges, accounts for almost three-fifths of state spending, about $11.7 billion of a total state budget of $20.6 billion. The bulk of education spending, almost $8 billion, is for K–12 schools.
But if you only commit one number to memory, make it this one: North Carolina has dropped to 48th among the 50 states plus the District of Columbia in terms of our per-student support for K–12 public schools. That's right, according to the National Education Association, we were 45th last year, but we've slipped three places and now lead only Arizona, Utah and Texas.
We are behind South Carolina. Let me repeat that for those who think of South Carolina as the worst-case state for everything unless it's Mississippi—which we're behind as well. Our per-student support for K–12 schools has dropped below $8,500 a year, roughly $400 per student less than in South Carolina. It's $1,000 less than Mississippi....
You can't make this stuff up. The North Carolina is suppose to enhance the education spending of the state, not become it's sole source of funding.
economic progress depends on a well-educated population, and the state’s K-12 public education budget plays an essential role in building and maintaining a high-quality education pipeline. The new 2014 state budget, however, fails to provide adequate resources to meet this fundamental challenge. In fact, General Fund expenditures on public schools falls $117 million short of what was needed to maintain current service levels in public education.
Contrary to false claims that the new budget spends the most on public education in North Carolina history, inflation-adjusted total state spending on the K-12 system is still $562.5 million lower than it was six years ago in 2008—before the onset of the Great Recession and the influx of funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act....
August 1, 2014
By Hyun Namkoong
Last month, (click here) the only hospital in the sleepy town of Belhaven in eastern North Carolina closed its doors, prompting Belhaven Mayor Adam O'Neal to step out of party lines and call for an expansion of Medicaid in North Carolina. And then he took a lot more steps....
Democrats have to stop being on the defensive and bring their successful agenda to the people. The Old Conservative is now the most dangerous person in the USA next to terrorists. Considering the devastating effects of global warming, they might be worse than terrorists.
