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The Facts About Public
K-12 Education Spending and Reform
· We’ve heard a lot of overblown rhetoric and misinformation
from those interested in preserving the status quo in education – mostly
focused on the state budget.
· For some, success is measured by money spent. And for those
people, the raw data disproves many of the claims of dire cutbacks.
· Here are the facts about our education budget:
· First, contrary to what some are saying, our budget protects
and even expands funding for public education, despite out-of-control costs
in Medicaid.
· It invests over $300 million more in our
public schools than the budget we passed last year – more than a four percent
increase.
· That means we’re spending nearly $11.5 BILLION on public
education and $7.9 BILLION on our K-12 system – or over half of our state
budget.
· It fully funds enrollment growth in K-12, community colleges
and the university system.
· And while we were unfortunately unable to provide salary
increases this year, keep in mind that during our first term as leaders of
the General Assembly, Republicans gave teachers and other state employees
their first raise in five years.
· But simply investing more dollars into our system is not
enough. Progress must be measured not on how much we spend, but on results.
· Reforming education is about changing the establishment
philosophy – moving away from the status quo and toward a metric that values
the results we see from our schools, teachers and students.
· Last year, we began moving the needle on education reform.
This year, we delivered on our promise by fully implementing the Excellent
Public Schools Act and provisions that:
1.
Strengthen student literacy to improve reading achievement and
graduation rates,
2.
Give parents tools to make better informed decisions about
their children's education, and
3.
Increase classroom accountability while rewarding our most
effective teachers.
· It’s widely agreed that the single-most important factor in
enhancing student academic growth is a high quality teacher. And North
Carolina is blessed with some of the best teachers in the country – we lead
the nation in national board certified teachers.
· The overwhelming majority of our educators are top-notch, and
they’re invaluable to the success of our children. Those teachers should be
recognized and rewarded. But administrators also need the ability to make
sure the handful of underperforming teachers either improve or find new
professions.
· That’s why tenure as we know it will be completely reformed
under the Excellent Public Schools Act. Instead of granting permanent
job-security to all after a few years in the classroom, teachers will work
under contracts that are renewed based on performance – like nearly every
other profession.
· Our focus shouldn’t be on ensuring that bad teachers keep
their jobs. Rather, it must be on making sure students can get a
job after they graduate.
· At the same time, we are recognizing and rewarding our most
effective teachers through a pay for excellence system. Our budget includes
$10.2 million to begin that process and fund annual pay raises for the best
teachers based on data and evaluations.
· Beginning in 2014, the top 25 percent of teachers identified
by their local school boards will receive four-year contracts with built-in
annual increases. That means over the next four years, those highly effective
teachers will earn an additional $5,000 through a permanent salary increase.
· And that’s just the first step in our commitment to
implementing a strong pay for excellence system to take care of our best
teachers.
· While we are moving in the right direction, the fact remains 1
in 5 North Carolina students do not graduate from high school. It is clear
our students deserve better than the status quo in education.
· Change is not always easy, but we must remain focused on
solutions that enable our students to reach their full potential.
· The Excellent Public Schools Act honors our pledge to
recognize and reward our state’s many outstanding teachers, maintains our
commitment to identify and improve struggling schools and – most importantly
– upholds our promise to prepare our children for future success.
Senator Jerry Tillman
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Senator Jerry Tillman
Senate Majority Whip
627 Legislative Office
Building
Raleigh, NC 27601-2808
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