Lack of NC budget leaves school construction money, other education items in limbo
Teacher pay raises aren’t the only education issue left in limbo due to the ongoing budget stalemate between the Republican-led state legislature and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
The $24 billion state budget vetoed by Cooper has a variety of education-related items, including new funding for school construction, paying school lunch costs for low-income students and new curriculum requirements for students. It’s unclear whether the items will be addressed when state lawmakers return in January or later next year during the short session.
Cooper said he vetoed the budget because it did not expand Medicaid and because he felt the proposed 3.9% raise for teachers wasn’t enough.
“The governor has continually refused to sit down with the legislature to work these things out,” said Rep. Craig Horn, a Union County Republican and chair of various education committees. “Honestly, this is terrible.
“The fact that we don’t have an education budget is devastating to North Carolina. I don’t see why grown people can’t come up with an education budget that makes sense for this state.”
But Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Raleigh Democrat and member of the Senate education committee, blamed the impasse on GOP lawmakers.
“This Republican General Assembly’s decision to put our budget in limbo puts our students and teachers in limbo,” Chaudhuri said. “This Republican General Assembly decided to put a priority on a billion-dollar tax cut.
“But they don’t put a priority on renovating crumbling schools and purchasing much-needed classroom supplies and helping students who can’t afford to pay for lunch.”
Here are some of the education-related items from the budget that haven’t been acted on yet:
Waiting for school construction dollars
Legislative leaders say the budget calls for committing $4.4 billion over the next 10 years for construction projects for K-12 schools, community colleges and universities. The money would come from the State Capital Infrastructure Fund and not from issuing construction bonds.
Cooper originally called for a $3.9 billion school construction bond referendum to be put on the ballot. As a compromise, he’s proposed asking voters to approve a smaller $3.5 billion bond referendum.
North Carolina school districts have identified $8 billion in construction needs.
No help paying for school lunches
Lawmakers included $3 million in the budget to cover the 40 cents per lunch charged to students who qualify for a reduced price under the federal school lunch program. More than 60,000 students across the state qualified for a reduced-price lunch in the 2017-18 school year.
The budget also required the state Department of Public Instruction to study how much unpaid student meal debt exists across the state and how much of it is from students who qualify for reduced-price meals.
The lunch option was pushed by Sen. Brent Jackson, a Sampson County Republican and co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Jackson’s office said he still intends to pursue providing the lunch funding.
Holocaust education on hold
The budget required the State Board of Education to include instruction of the Holocaust and genocide in the English and social studies standards used in middle schools and high schools.
Supporters say it’s needed because some people still deny that the Nazis killed millions of Jews and other people they considered to be undesirable. There’s been a nationwide push to require public schools to teach about the Holocaust.
Legislation that included the budget’s wording about teaching of the Holocaust was unanimously adopted by the House in April but is stuck in a Senate committee. Horn, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said he’s asked Senate leaders to move the legislation for a vote in January.
Horn said he’s worried that if the Senate waits until the spring, there won’t be enough time for the new curriculum to be used in the 2020-21 school year.
Delay on requiring students to take arts class
Legislators included in the budget a long-sought requirement that students take an arts class before they graduate.
The budget would require students to complete an arts education credit between sixth grade and 12th grade. The new requirement is supposed to go into effect with students entering sixth grade in 2022.
The House also included the new arts requirement in a bill that was overwhelmingly approved in March. The legislation is stuck in a Senate committee.
“We’ve gotten into a very bad habit of putting way too much policy into the budget,” Horn said. “Consequently, when we don’t have a budget we don’t have the policy to implement it.”
No expansion of Teaching Fellows schools
Lawmakers had agreed to add three more North Carolina colleges and universities to a program that trains future teachers.
The budget expanded the number of University of North Carolina schools and private institutions in the N.C. Teaching Fellows to eight programs. Teaching Fellows provides scholarships to people who want to teach in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math or special education.
Some have complained that the program now has just five schools, none of which are historically black colleges and universities. The budget directs the N..C. Teaching Fellows Commission to choose a “diverse selection” of schools for the program.
Chaudhuri, the senator, said he’s hopeful that lawmakers can pass education legislation that they find common ground on.
Horn said he’s hopes that action can be taken on education and transportation issues. But Horn, who is considering running for state superintendent of schools, said he’s worried that things won’t get done because lawmakers’ actions in 2020 will be guided by the fall elections.
“2020 will be the year of political hyperbole no matter what,” Horn said. “People aren’t going to pay attention to what really matters.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 5:30 AM.
