Brunswick Beacon, 06.01.23
The recently passed NC House and Senate budgets take money away from North Carolina’s public schools. These budgets call for a tax break for millionaires that will lower the education budget by 20%. They also call for spending millions on PRIVATE schools, while providing NO oversight on how the money is spent! Eighty percent of students in North Carolina attend public schools. The NC Congressional budgets will also provide $130 million in schools vouchers, again taking money away from public schools. North Carolina ranks 48th in per pupil educational spending. Why not spend this money on the badly under-funded public schools?
There is currently a teacher shortage in North Carolina, as there is nationwide. Governor Cooper’s budget calls for an 18% raise in teacher pay. But the NC legislature budgets call for a paltry raise of $250 over two years! This is hardly an enticement to those thinking of going into teaching.
The NC House and Senate budgets offer nothing for early childhood education when research has shown that such investment pays off big time later in children’s lives. We need to fund early childhood education.
I encourage your readers to contact their representative (Frank Iler?) in the NC Congress and request that he/she vote against funding private schools. Instead, they should spend that money on the badly underfunded public schools!
Nancy Briganti
Carolina Shores
CONTACT YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS (North Carolina General Assembly):
Representative Frank Iler (R) District 17 Email: Frank.Iler@ncleg.gov; Phone: (919) 301-1450
Representative Charles Miller (R), District 19 Email: Charles.Miller@ncleg.gov; Phone: (919) 733-5830
Senator Bill Rabon (R), District 8 (Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover) Email: Bill.Rabon@ncleg.gov; Phone: (919) 733-5963