Policy and Progress Report Features NCAE President

"The position is gone, but the work still must be done"

With the headline "Budget Cuts Threaten NC Student Performance," A special  Policy and Progress report included in the Sunday October 16 edition of the N&O featured NCAE President Sheri Strickland's very pointed remarks about the effects of budget cuts.

"There are more students in many of our schools than last year, and yet we haven't provided any funds to account for that growth, " Strickland said in the report. "As we have more students but fewer adults in the school, the adults that are there are going to have to do more than they've done in the past. The losses of teachers, teacher assistants and support staff mean students may receive less individualized attention, classrooms may have to be kept clean and safe by the teachers themselves, and few courses will be available to students. The position is gone, bu the work still has to be done."

A quarterly publication of the North Carolina Justice Center, The Policy and Progress Report highlights an important and startling statistic: 76 percent of the school employees who have lost their jobs since the economic downturn were teacher and teacher assistants.

It also includes a fascinating look at the budget by telling readers what $459 million dollars for the year, which breaks down to 2.5 million dollars per school day, could have done for public education. Did you know that if we had just one day's worth of the money cut from education we could have purchased 3,000 computers for students or replaced 31 aging school busses with new fuel efficient, 66-seat buses? Or, the 459 million dollars in total could have built 32 brand-new, 100,000 square foot school buildings without issing any debt or hired 9,800 teachers to reduce class size in grades K-8.

"This is a report all of our members need to keep on hand and share with their friends, families and colleagues, " Strickland said. "It paints a bleak picture, but this portrayal outlines the true impact of the decisions made by the North Carolina General Assembly this year. It's not just opinion that North Carolina schools, children and educators are bearing the burden of bad decisions and misplaced priorities, it is very, very real."

See the full report Policy and Progress Report here