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North Carolina values under assault in budget plan

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Staff

by Joe Hackney

The ongoing legislative session in North Carolina offers citizens a clear view of the different values of our legislative leaders and the direction they want to take our state.

On one side is a new Republican majority eager to carry out their plans to eviscerate public education, endanger children’s health and gut safeguards that protect our water and air. Democrats have opposed this destructive course at every turn and have succeeded in moderating some legislation and upholding the veto of Gov. Perdue when warranted. We want to do more for this state, especially our children.

Now that the governor has vetoed the Republican-penned budget for the coming fiscal year, I wanted to give you some facts about the plan.

Despite the misleading rhetoric of the majority, this budget fails to protect education as they profess. Specifically, the claim that they have protected teachers and teacher assistants is patently false. You can easily look at the reports in your own communities to see that this is true. Statewide, the early estimates based on our best information show that 13,100 positions in public education could be eliminated under this budget – 9,300 in K-12, 1,100 in our community colleges and 2,700 in the university system. There will also be an estimated 3,000 state employees directly put out of work and thousands more are expected to be laid off in the months ahead as the realities of the extreme right’s vision for North Carolina becomes more focused.

The excuse for their wrongheaded decisions is that the education system in our state is broken. That’s simply incorrect. Just this week, a new study issued by the Education Research Center found that over the past 10 years, North Carolina has had the nation’s second-largest increase in graduation rates among the states. The rate for African-American females is the highest in the nation and third highest for all African-Americans. North Carolina students posted the highest gain in SAT scores over the past 10 years among the states that primarily use the exam for college entrance and it ranks in the top quarter of states in ACT scores. Our community colleges are considered a model for the nation. Our universities consistently rank among the best and the best bargains in the nation. These achievements are the result of wise investment, careful consideration and a dedication to our children and the economy of the future.

The Republican plan betrays these children by taking this state backwards. It takes away opportunity, denying health services to children and affordable college loans and financial aid to middle-class families. Per-pupil funding in K-12 education will drop to 49th in the nation.

The visionary leaders of this state – Republican and Democratic – transformed North Carolina into a national leader by recognizing that investment in education and health enriches our state and its businesses rather than burdening them. Republicans have rejected that commonsense value and instead put us on a path that will limit opportunity for our children. Their values – and what they value – diminish this state.

Rep. Joe Hackney is the leader of the N.C. House Democratic Caucus. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2007-11. He represents portions of Orange, Chatham and Moore counties.

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