Public education spending in North Carolina is at an all time high with over $1.495 billion spend in the decade 1951-1960. From first grade to graduate university courses, spending on public education is approximately 70 cents out every General Fund dollar, the majority of this devoted to educational services below the college level.
The Guilford County School Board challenged the Guilford County Commissioners over the amount of funding for the school system, because it was below the school board's request. The dispute was settled August 4, 2000. Wilson discusses what other school boards with similar disputes can learn from Guilford County's experience.
Comparative statistics regarding teacher salaries and other educational expenditures in North Carolina are charted and presented by the North Carolina Association of Educators.
Nine-million dollars in annual tax cuts passed by the North Carolina legislature has caused local governments to raise taxes to better fund schools. Critics argue that the budget shortchanges students while enriching the wealthy. Proponents argue that the budget will dramatically increase teacher pay and improve public education outcomes.
Although the state provides \"foundation\" funding to all county school systems, per-pupil spending varies by as much as 60% due to local appropriations.
Two laws exist to aid schools with relatively low property tax bases and enrollments: the Low-Wealth Supplemental Funding Program and the Small-Schools Supplemental Funding Program.
The cost of putting an armed officer in every school in Wake County is explored after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Adding an officer in all of the county’s 169 schools would cost the district 13.5 million dollars. Currently, the district only has 54 officers in schools and the pros and cons of increasing the number of officers is discussed.
The state's financial aid largely focused on students entering traditional four-year programs with less emphasis on those individuals entering community colleges. The author offers a statistical breakdown for the number of community college students and aid received. Sources for this funding is also explored, showing that much of the community college students receive federal funding and less state funding. Six sources of state funding are highlighted and the author encourages development of such programs like the Need-Based Teaching and Nursing Grant Program and how to enhance these for community college students.
Financial literacy education is starting to become a better-known topic within our North Carolina public school systems. A few bills have been passed requiring education curriculum to incorporate general economics, money management, savings and investment, and general banking procedures. With better financial management skills, there may be fewer bankruptcies and foreclosures, and lower consumer debt.
Goals 2000, the national Educate America Act, was passed in 1994. States can receive funds for schools for their participation; however, the Gun Free Schools Act section conflicts with two North Carolina statute provisions.
In May, 1994, the school boards in Halifax, Robeson, Cumberland, Vance, and Hoke Counties sued North Carolina, charging that the state's system of financing public schools does not foster uniform opportunity, as the state constitution requires.
The North Carolina Legislature sets up an education budget each year. Money in this budget comes from federal, state, and county funds. From it, salaries for teachers and principals, maintenance, retirement funds, and general upkeep are used for schools throughout the state.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is facing its third straight year of budget cuts and the effects are being felt. Many feel the quality of the university is decreasing. Others believe this negative point of view is a matter of perception. Faculty received a raise and is the fifth highest paid faculty in the South. Still, the pay is behind other nation’s universities and the cuts are affecting money for materials, library services, and graduate student stipends.
In 1994, a group of poor school districts filed a lawsuit against the state, charging failure to provide sufficient funding to educate their students. The North Carolina Supreme Court's ruling recognized that under the state constitution children have a right to a \"sound basic education.\" Coll examines three extensive superior court rulings on this right and how the state's educational future might be affected by them.
With over 20,000 new students entering the state's schools systems each year for the next decade, school personnel, local officials, and state legislators are challenged by two issues: the critical need for new school buildings and how to pay for them.