Despite media reports that a budget deal is done, class size is still being negotiated in the 11th hour by Governor Bev Perdue, Speaker Joe Hackney & Senate Pro Tem Marc Basnight.
On Friday night, the budget deal was done. According to the media, the House and Senate budget writers in Room 612 struck a deal where class size would not be harmed in grades K-12 and teacher assistant positions would be restored. Then came the "but."
Under the agreement, local school districts would be given a "discretionary" cut and returning part of their allocations back to the state. In order to find the money, school systems would be allowed to increase class size in grades 7-12. Governor Perdue was not pleased with this and dispatched her team to open negotiations on this issue. The General Assembly needs the governor's signature on the budget in order to become law.
Governor Perdue's position on protecting classroom learning from cuts is opposed by the NC School Boards Association and the NC Association of School Administrators. In an email message sent to its members today, NCSBA wrote that the "governor is asking the General Assembly to go in the wrong direction."
"Grades 7-12 are critical years for students, just as the early grades are," said NCAE President Sheri Strickland. "Children are at risk of dropping out, they're faced with incredible pressures, and they're going through life changes. They need more teachers in their lives, not less."
Strickland called on members to voice their concerns to the General Assembly directly today. A budget is reportedly being printed this afternoon for distribution to members this evening at 7 p.m.
"NCAE members need to call their representatives and senators today," said Strickland. "If you're in the game, stay in the game until the whistle blows, and if you're not, we need you now. The next two days are critical for student learning and your jobs."
Rep. Julia C. Howard Email: Julia.Howard@ncleg.net
Rep. Darrell G. McCormick Email: Darrell.McCormick@ncleg.net
Rep. Grey Mills Email: Grey.Mills@ncleg.net
Rep. Mitchell S. Setzer Email: Mitchell.Setzer@ncleg.net
Senator Austin M. Allran Email: Austin.Allran@ncleg.net
Senator James Forrester Email: James.Forrester@ncleg.net
Thank you for posting this on this blog. Many of the postings seem to be about Holliday and Baldridge. While I know that those items are of importance to discuss, the budget is probably the biggest right now for the school system. Teacher have been told they have jobs, which I am thankful for, but we do not know what school or what grade we are teaching. This is not the whole district, only select schools. The uncertainty is stressful as many teachers including myself use these couple of weeks before school to get rooms ready and plan. The other issue is teacher assistants. We want the budget to be approved with the line item that teacher assistants will be called back to work. Thank you for posting this item from NCAE.
ReplyDeleteSorry this was too good and had to copy this forward in case it was missed. This was written in regards to teachers etc. never getting a break for even lunch:
ReplyDelete"Anonymous said...
Sorry to burst your bubble 8/2 5:47pm. I came from outside the education industry. I was appalled to see the blatent violations of the law. To the fudging of time cards to avoid overtime to never having a lawful break. We were told that if we were going to go over, (meaning over 40 hours) we had to clock out and do what? Most of us had schedules that prohibited us from clocking out at convenient times i.e. at the end of the day, had to drive a bus, or prior to work. We had deadlines and classrooms to cover. That meant clocking out for weird times, like 20 to 40 minutes during the day. Most of us clocked out and kept working. I was so appalled I informed many about the blatent disregard for the law and their rights. To the opponents, I did question all of this and I was told they had to do that because of a law suit a TA brought against the system for not being paid overtime. Come on! This is the way they circumvent the law! When we start valuing our most precious asset, our children, then maybe we will make strides in the area of education. We treat our animals better and probably have better and more enforced laws for them. I know that least the mistreatment of animals (like Michael Vick) get more media attention than our educators and children get.
August 3, 2009 10:12 PM"
Unfortunately, this kind of thing is wrong and gets to the very core of morale, which ultimately affects students. We must push for change. These may be issolated, but I fear they are more the norm. You may disagree with what is being said and done on this post, but I urge any parent to step up and be heard for their "precious asset".