It isn't scary enough to realize how much education spending is in decline in North Carolina even with a statewide weekly lottery to support it. But, to realize this is the kind of priority Tillis and Burr bring to the US Senate is disquieting.
Guilford County, North Carolina had a one quarter percent increase for spending on education. It was a referendum issue the Guilford County Board of Education hopes the citizens would pass. I haven't seen any Koch Brothers anti-millage ads so I have to assume the odds of defeating it are overwhelming.
This has been the Republican agenda in North Carolina for the previous two years. There was a Republican governor and majority Republican state legislator in NC.
One might ask why would there be a need for a millage increase throughout Guilford County. The school systems are governed by a county authority and not a local authority. So the taxes for schools all go into one fund for distribution throughout the county.
In 2009, after the global economic crisis, the State of North Carolina cut monies to education across the state. It was significant in every county and in Guilford County is was $22 million. The thing that the cuts never stopped. And today Guilford County is missing nearly $48 million in it's school budget. The quality of public school classroom education is suffering.
October 6, 2009
By Sam A. Heib
...Furthermore, (click here) school systems “should pay special attention to spending on personnel because salary and benefits represent the largest single category of expenditure for public education in North Carolina.”
This has been far from a normal budget year for any school system. GCS initially thought it would have to contend with as much as $38 million in budget cuts from the state. Making matters worse, Guilford County commissioners, on their own mission to radically streamline their budget, provided practically no relief, granting the school system the same operating budget as last fiscal year.
But the state ended up cutting only $21 million from GCS’ budget, and salaries for the administrative positions were part of the final $4.9 million left over after several revisions. Of the $4.9 million, $3 million was held in reserve for operational expenses or — in a worst-case scenario — if the state ordered the school system to return funds....
In 2013 SAT standings for North Carolina came in 38 out of 51 including the District of Columbia. That is static for North Carolina since 2000. The graduation rate is higher for high school at 83%, but, that has not translated into employment or further education in college. The unemployment rate for 19 year olds in North Carolina has been 25.4%.
Guilford County, North Carolina had a one quarter percent increase for spending on education. It was a referendum issue the Guilford County Board of Education hopes the citizens would pass. I haven't seen any Koch Brothers anti-millage ads so I have to assume the odds of defeating it are overwhelming.
This has been the Republican agenda in North Carolina for the previous two years. There was a Republican governor and majority Republican state legislator in NC.
One might ask why would there be a need for a millage increase throughout Guilford County. The school systems are governed by a county authority and not a local authority. So the taxes for schools all go into one fund for distribution throughout the county.
In 2009, after the global economic crisis, the State of North Carolina cut monies to education across the state. It was significant in every county and in Guilford County is was $22 million. The thing that the cuts never stopped. And today Guilford County is missing nearly $48 million in it's school budget. The quality of public school classroom education is suffering.
October 6, 2009
By Sam A. Heib
...Furthermore, (click here) school systems “should pay special attention to spending on personnel because salary and benefits represent the largest single category of expenditure for public education in North Carolina.”
This has been far from a normal budget year for any school system. GCS initially thought it would have to contend with as much as $38 million in budget cuts from the state. Making matters worse, Guilford County commissioners, on their own mission to radically streamline their budget, provided practically no relief, granting the school system the same operating budget as last fiscal year.
But the state ended up cutting only $21 million from GCS’ budget, and salaries for the administrative positions were part of the final $4.9 million left over after several revisions. Of the $4.9 million, $3 million was held in reserve for operational expenses or — in a worst-case scenario — if the state ordered the school system to return funds....
In 2013 SAT standings for North Carolina came in 38 out of 51 including the District of Columbia. That is static for North Carolina since 2000. The graduation rate is higher for high school at 83%, but, that has not translated into employment or further education in college. The unemployment rate for 19 year olds in North Carolina has been 25.4%.
...In 2013, NC state-wide budget cuts (click here) have been making headlines for ending teacher tenure, reducing spending on teacher assistants, and enabling taxpayer money to be spent on private school tuition among other issues. While this has served as the catalyst for many important conversations, we would like to highlight another important change that potentially affects gifted education:
The heretofore protected and dedicated 4% of funding for academically gifted education has been reclassified as “Flexible Spending” by the NC Legislature via Senate Bill 402. This means LEAs, including Guilford County Schools, are allowed to transfer funding out of AIG/AG programs and use this funding for other educational purposes.
Now, perhaps more than ever, we believe parents, teachers, administrators, and others interested in gifted education should be educated and vigilant about changes to legislation and other matters that affect gifted education. Guilford County PAGE’s mission is to advocate today for a gifted tomorrow, so we can join together to give voice to our gifted students and the education they deserve....
Say good-bye to Talented and Gifted classes. But, spending for incarceration is up regardless of economic collapse.
Black youth (click here) are disproportionately locked up in North Carolina. In 2011, black youth were approximately 26% of the total juvenile population but were 61% of youth admitted to detention centers and 72% of youth committed to YDCs.
North Carolina still spends too much money on locking up youth. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Division of Juvenile Justice spent $11,327,783 on detention and $39,884,674 on YDCs. Millions more is spent on throwing 16- and 17-year-olds in jails, prisons and mental health institutions. Taxpayer money could be better spent on prevention, early intervention and community-based alternatives to confinement.
North Carolina is the only state that treats all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults when they are charged with criminal offenses and then denies them the ability to appeal for return to the juvenile system. The decline in juvenile incarceration rates doesn’t include the unknown number of 16- and 17-year-olds in North Carolina’s adult jails and prisons. It also doesn’t include youth ages 13, 14, and 15 who are in adult facilities after being transferred to and convicted in adult criminal court.
Say good-bye to Talented and Gifted classes. But, spending for incarceration is up regardless of economic collapse.
Black youth (click here) are disproportionately locked up in North Carolina. In 2011, black youth were approximately 26% of the total juvenile population but were 61% of youth admitted to detention centers and 72% of youth committed to YDCs.
North Carolina still spends too much money on locking up youth. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Division of Juvenile Justice spent $11,327,783 on detention and $39,884,674 on YDCs. Millions more is spent on throwing 16- and 17-year-olds in jails, prisons and mental health institutions. Taxpayer money could be better spent on prevention, early intervention and community-based alternatives to confinement.
North Carolina is the only state that treats all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults when they are charged with criminal offenses and then denies them the ability to appeal for return to the juvenile system. The decline in juvenile incarceration rates doesn’t include the unknown number of 16- and 17-year-olds in North Carolina’s adult jails and prisons. It also doesn’t include youth ages 13, 14, and 15 who are in adult facilities after being transferred to and convicted in adult criminal court.
