At CEF we know there are a TON of resources and data to support our belief that Chatham County Schools’ students deserve to attend fully funded public schools supported by the state of NC.
In short, the state of NC is required to fund instructional and curriculum expenses in Chatham County Schools, as well as all traditional public schools across the state. The counties are to fund school buildings and operations. Unfortunately, the state of NC does not provide enough funding to Chatham County Schools and our tax dollars add approximately $14M additional for staffing and resources to our schools annually that should be covered by state funds.
Why is this important?
Teacher Vacancies
We must pay our teachers a respectable wage to keep teachers in the classrooms and build our shrinking teacher pipeline.
–#1 on the NC Public School Forum list of 2023 issues is teachers pay
–Comprehensive Report on the History, Structure and Status of Teacher Pay in NC
Keep Public Funds in Public Schools
Private school vouchers will cost the public $540 million by the 2032-33 school year. These vouchers do not provide school accountability or curriculum standards and will further discriminate and segregate. Expanding vouchers will also negatively impact rural communities like Chatham.
–NC Public School Forum one-pager on school vouchers.
–NCPE Fast Facts on School Vouchers
–Vouchers Don’t Work in Rural Areas
–National Education Association article on vouchers
–Vouchers do not adequately serve low income students
Fully Fund Our Public Schools
You may have heard about the Leandro court case in the news–it actually made it all the way to the NC Supreme Court. In the NC state constitution, NC is required to provide a sound and basic education to all students.
In the1990s, the state was sued by 5 low-income counties saying NC wasn’t meeting the low bar of a sound and basic education for all. For the last 30 years this case has been in and out of the courts. Finally, in the fall of 2022 we saw some progress when the NC Supreme court ruled the state must fund its constitutional obligation. Now remember, this is just to meet funding that low bar…..sound and basic education.
In early 2023, the NC Supreme Court overturned their own decision (with 2 new justices on the bench in January) and will again withhold requiring the GA to release these funds to public schools.
Here are some facts:
- Chatham County Schools could have an additional $18M/year of state funds if the General Assembly were to fulfill the Leandro Comprehensive Plan. Leandro Basics.
- The Chatham Board of Education released a resolution on June 5th titled Resolution to Prioritize Public Schools in the 2023-2025 Biennium Budget
Resources
–Public School Forum newsletters
–Public Schools First newsletter
–HEAL Together (Honest Education Action and Leadership)
–EdNC