Funding for North Carolina’s Public Schools
An Unmistakable Immediacy
JUNE 24, 2010
Financing N.C. Public Schools
The real issue isn't about cutting N.C. Public Schools' administrative, teaching, or other positions.
It's about what North Carolina is going to do to meet the needs of its students and their families and,
ultimately, its expectations for the future.
North Carolina spends less per student in our K-12 public schools than 41 other states. Our public schools
received less from the state's General Fund in 2009-10 than in 2006-07, even though we now have 30,000
more students.
N.C. Public Schools cannot follow a typical business model of scaling back in the current financial climate,
the worst since the Great Depression. Why? Because we do not turn away new students, a challenge for
the sixth fastest growing state in the country. N.C. Public Schools do not add "per student" income as they
incur "per student" costs. Income at the local level is determined through a local tax basis. Income at the
state level is appropriated by the General Assembly. Income at the federal level is allocated according to a
U.S. Census taken each decade, which, in the case of a rapidly growing state, can present difficulties.
Unlike a typical business or even a utilities or other public service company, N.C. Public Schools don't ask
for a deposit when enrolling a new student. There is no tuition, investment account, or endowment fund
from which to draw. N.C. Public Schools don't turn away students, so capping enrollment according to
financial capability is not an option.
Not only do N.C. Public Schools not turn away students, but students are accepted regardless of their needs.
Over half of the students in our state come to the doors of their school with a need for additional services
either because they come from economically disadvantaged families, they have a disability, or they are
in the process of learning English. Although our state has set high academic standards that apply to all
students, there is a wide range of students embarking on achieving those standards.
Many of the laws that are written at the state level are about what N.C. Public School students are required to
learn and how success will be measured. As a state, we have said the status quo is not good enough for our
children and that we must deliver better services. Legislators, citizens, and educators want more than 71% of our
students to graduate from high school, to receive the most rigorous and relevant academic training possible,
and to have tested proof that they are ready to continue their training or make a contribution in our society once
they graduate from high school.
N.C. Public Schools: A Financial Account
N.C. Public Schools have done their share of belt tightening. Strategic cuts aimed at not impacting the
classroom and student services have been made. Financial accounts at the district and state level have
been scoured to find unspent money and cost-saving efficiencies. Jobs have been consolidated and
streamlined. Here's what happened in the 2009-10 school year:
• Teaching positions were cut and the student/teacher ratio now stands at 1:22 with up to
29 in a class for grades 4-9. By 10th grade, the ratio is 1 :27 with up to 32 students in a class. In
2009-10, there were 25,051 teachers funded to teach K-3; 1 6,351 teachers to teach the legislatively
"unprotected" grades 9-12. Grades 4-12 class sizes have "maximum flexibility" under special rules
for 2009-10 and 2010-11 to be larger than 1 :32.
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