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Ellen Greaves, Ed.D., J.D.,
Executive Director,
Professional Educators of North Carolina |
Teacher
Recruitment and
Retention in North Carolina, Part 4
Funding
North Carolina’s Public Schools
In our last three
issues, the challenges North Carolina’s public schools
face in recruiting and retaining teachers have been discussed.
In this issue, the funding for North Carolina’s
public school education (grades K–12) will be our
focus.
The North Carolina
Constitution provides for a state-financed public education
for all children. Funding
for public education comes primarily from the state, from
the federal government, and from local supplementary funds.
The Governor of
the State submits a budget proposal to the General Assembly
when it convenes in the first year of its two-year term.
This first year is referred
to as the “long session” because it typically
begins late in January and ends when both chambers approve
and adopt a budget (with the deadline of June 30).
In the second year, referred to as the “short session”
because it begins in May, the Governor will also submit
a budget that adjusts the budget adopted in the long session
and that reflects changes in revenue since the budget
was adopted. The General Assembly then considers
the proposal and adopts its version. Each two-year
period, the General Assembly alternates which chamber
begins the deliberation process. In
the current two-year period, the Senate is responsible
for beginning the budget deliberations.
The
Governor’s budget proposal and the General Assembly’s
final budget begin with an amount that reflects a continuation
of the funding that has occurred in the past. This is
called the “continuation” part of the budget.
Additions
or subtractions are then made to that figure. If the addition
or subtraction is meant to permanently change the continuation
budget, it is labeled a “recurring” item in
the budget. If it is a temporary change that is
not meant to alter the continuation budget calculations,
it is referred to as a “nonrecurring” item.
 Over
the last three years, revenues in the state have been
flat or declining. Budgets in our most recent past have
tapped other sources of dollars to provide additional
funding so that teachers could receive some raise in pay
and enrollment increases could be funded. This
year’s budget process was all the more challenging
because those other sources of dollars had been tapped
dry. The budget that finally passed both
chambers and then was signed into law by Governor Easley
provides the allocations noted in the chart below. (Note:
A figure that is within parentheses is a reduction.)
| BEGINNING
CONTINUATION BUDGET |
$6,585,323,929 |
| A+ Schools
|
$100,000 |
| ABC Awards
|
$100,000,000 |
| ADM Adjustment
|
$9,402,812 |
| ADM
Contingency Reserve |
($2,000,000) |
| Annual
Average Salary Adjustment |
($23,642,099) |
At-Risk
Student Services
(transfer of funds to Department of Juvenile Justice)
|
($1,600,000) |
| Budget
Receipts from Civil Penalties & Forfeitures Fund
|
($102,500,000) |
| Center for
21st Century Skills |
$250,000 |
| Central
Office Administration |
($510,023) |
| Child &
Family Support Teams |
$8,500,000 |
| Children
with Disabilities |
($3,969,553) |
| Communities
in Schools |
$500,000 |
| Disadvantaged
Student Supplement |
$22,500,000 |
| EVAAS |
$500,000 |
| Evaluate DSSF
& Low Wealth Initiatives |
$150,000 |
| ExplorNet
|
($100,000) |
| Futures for
Kids |
$500,000 |
| High
Priority Schools |
($400,000) |
| High School
Reform - Learn & Earn |
$4,164,926 |
| Low Wealth
Supplemental Funding |
$20,000,000 |
| NCNetwork
|
($70,875) |
| Partnership
for Excellence (TQE) |
($12,500) |
| Reduction
to DPI |
($598,666) |
| Regional Education
Networks |
$100,000 |
Sales
Tax Refundable to LEAs
(redirects money for LEAs to the State Public School
Fund) |
($33,000,000) |
| SAS in Schools
|
$500,000 |
| School
Building Administration |
($5,038,433) |
| School
Bus Replacement |
($7,915,450) |
| Science Olympiad
Funding |
$50,000 |
| Small County
Supplemental Funding |
$750,000 |
| Specialty High
Schools |
$1,446,877 |
| Teach for America
|
$200,000 |
| Teacher Working
Conditions Survey |
$215,000 |
| Teaching Fellows
Scholarships |
$650,000 |
| Virtual High
School |
$150,000 |
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| Total Legislative
Changes (NR)* |
$103,320,500 |
| Total
Legislative Changes (R)** |
($80,645,484) |
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| REVISED
BUDGET
Source: General Assembly *Nonrecurring **Recurring |
$6,607,998,945 |
School districts
will be required for the third consecutive year to return
$44 million to the state. This
budget reduced funding of public education by the $102.5
million that schools were awarded in a decision by the
NC Supreme Court that determined certain fines and forfeitures
belonged to the respective school districts, not the General
Fund. During the budget process, there
were budget proposals that called for eliminating teaching
assistant positions. While this budget did not eliminate
those positions, the $44 million the schools have to return
to the state will likely result in the elimination of
positions, since 95% of school expenditures are for personnel.
Teachers received an average of a 2.4% increase in salary
(a step plus a little adjustment to each step). An
additional $85 million was set aside for the Governor,
in consultation with the House Speaker and the Senate
President Pro Tempore, to allocate as he saw fit to address
issues of teacher salaries. Rather than
conduct a salary study, the Governor decided to give every
teacher $75 more per month, or an increase of $525 this
year.
The careful
reader will notice that $100 million of the funding added
to the budget in nonrecurring funds is for ABC bonuses,
which are required by law. Controlling for those
bonuses, there was a net decrease in funding for public
education of over $77 million. The
result of this net decrease is that local school districts
have less state funding for programs, instructional resources,
and personnel. There is no funding for
school construction, although there are estimates that
we have at least $6 billion in unmet school facility needs.
Schools, especially those
that do not qualify for the low-wealth funding, are hard-pressed
to continue current programs, let alone plan and fund
innovative ones.
North Carolina
spends $1,268 per pupil below the national average ($8,618
for the US in 2004-2005) and ranks 38th in per-pupil spending.
The state spends less than all of its neighbors
(except Tennessee), and North Carolina spends $1.7 billion
less than the US average. North Carolina spends $811 less
than South Carolina, but the state has a per-capita income
that is $2,150 higher than South Carolina’s. And
North Carolina is the sixth-fastest growing state in terms
of student population, with a 1.6 percent increase compared
with the average of 0.6 percent.
*North Carolina
Constitution, Sec. 15. Education. “The people have
a right to the privilege of education, and it is the duty
of the State to guard and maintain that right.”
**North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. These
unmet needs are in both new construction and renovation
of outdated facilities.
***The Public School Forum’s Friday Report, December
9, 2005, citing figures from the National Education Association
(NEA).
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|
 Dr.
Ellen
Greaves
became
Executive
Director
of
Professional
Educators
of
North
Carolina
in
December
2003.
Dr.
Greaves
is
an
educator,
an
attorney,
and
a
professional
association
manager
with
years
of
experience
representing
state
employees
and
managing
non-profit
organizations.
She
served
on
the
Illinois
State
Treasurer’s
Advisory
Board
on
Women’s
Issues.
She
served
as
senior
staff
attorney
and
corporate
counsel
to
the
Illinois
State
Employees
Association,
representing
approximately
1,000
management-level
state
employees
in
civil
and
administrative
matters
concerning
their
employment.
She
was
a
faculty
member
and
Director
of
Campus
Recreation
at
the
University
of
North
Carolina
at
Greensboro
for
twelve
years,
where
she
built
a
large
and
diverse
campus
recreation
program
culminating
in
the
design
of
an
$8
million
facility
devoted
to
student
recreation
on
that
campus.
Dr.
Greaves
holds
a
law
degree
from
the
University
of
Illinois,
a
Doctorate
of
Education
from
the
University
of
North
Carolina
at
Greensboro,
a
Master
of
Science
degree
in
sports
management
from
the
University
of
Massachusetts,
and
a
Bachelor
of
Science
degree
in
Physical
Education
from
the
University
of
Illinois,
receiving
certification
to
teach
physical
education
in
K-14.
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In
the
last
year,
Dr.
Greaves
has
served
on
the
NC
State
Board
of
Education’s
Task
Force
on
Teacher
Recruitment
and
Retention,
Teacher
Quality
Committee,
Task
Force
on
Physical
Education,
and
the
Special
Committee
on
Graduate
Pay
Approval
and
Non-Teaching
Work
Experience
Policies.
She
is
also
serving
on
the
Board
of
Directors
of
the
Public
School
Forum
of
NC.
Her
responsibilities
at
PENC
include
serving
as
its
CEO
and
influencing
education
policy
on
a
statewide
level.
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| Dr.
Ellen C. Greaves
Executive Director
Professional Educators of North Carolina
309 W. Millbrook Road, Suite 111
Raleigh, NC 27609
919-788-9299 800-542-8844
ellen@pencweb.org |
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