http://www.garnerclayton.com/2010/12/08/5311/schools-could-cut-more-than-100.html Can someone please explain the NC Education Lottery to me again? The word "Education" was just added to the title to confuse people, right?
"Under a 5-percent cut, schools would likely place teacher assistants only in kindergarten, first grade and second grade, Croom said." At my school the first and second grade teachers already share assistants. Upper grades have one assistant for the entire grade or one shared by all teachers in one grade.
The NC Education Lottery has provided hundreds of millions to Education in North Carolina. Instead focus on how bad it would have been in this economy if we hadn't had the lottery proceeds. Of course one of the political strategies is to focus on initially cutting class room positions to get everyone upset instead of starting with the upper and middle management positions that may be a waste of money.
Agreed, SR. Start at the top. Roll back the pay increases that Central Office honchos got. Before they cry, remind them that the graveyards and hospitals are full of people who felt they were indispensable, yet whose demise did not bring operations to a standstill as they imagine. 10% reduction in salaries for Principals, and AP's would be a good second step. Staffing should come from the classrooms upward.
Exactly. And once again, I would like to say how brilliant it was to replace some general fund monies with lottery funds. Here is where the money is going - http://www.northcarolinalottery.com/where-does-the-money-go.html http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/about_where-the-money-goes.aspx
I understand your point here, but I have to say that Principals and APs don't get paid well at all as it is considering the amount of time they spend at work. Most of them, especially at the high school level, are dealing with school activities 6 days a week and after-school activities well into the night. Break their pay down into an hourly rate, and you will see that they get paid next to nothing for their work. That's why there aren't many people chomping at the bit to be a principal. I was also under the impression that the county office had several retirees that were not replaced, and that their tasks were given to the remaining members of the team. The pay raises were given due to the increased work load. The financial statements show that they actually saved a significant amount of money even with the raises by not rehiring for those positions. In my opinion, the way the budget works at the school level is too convoluted. There are a million different categories in which the school must spend a specific amount of money, so even though the school might not need $10k for staff development, they have to spend it there. It is my understanding that they cannot move that money around as they need. I know for a fact that there are times schools are looking for a way to spend money in certain categories. This is what shouldn't be happening. In a different county teachers got I-pads, which basically sends the message that a teacher's position is worth a fancy new computer that none of them even know how to use causing them to spend more money on training sessions. Seriously!?!? And all because they had to spend a certain amount of money in the technology category. What's going to happen is the schools are going to keep moving forward into the 21st century with all the latest gadgets and lots of pointless workshops but no teachers!
That is an accusation often made, but please provide a link showing where general fund monies were replaced with lottery funds. From all the budget information I've seen, general fund money to education in NC has increased every year since the lottery, plus millions in lottery money has gone to education. As with so many government programs: Not a lack of revenues, but foolish spending.
I'm not a proponent of new taxes, but here is a fee that I think we can and should impose. So many people have moved here in the past 20 years and schools have been built to try and handle the extra children, but now that times are tough we can't pay the teachers. When people move here from other states, why not impose a one time fee on the license transfer that would go towards the schools? This may not solve the problems, but it would help wouldn't it?
Wasn't there something like that tossed around at one time? Something like having the builders or new home buyer pay a fee? Might have been Wake co - but I don't think it ever got passed.
Here's one: http://www.wral.com/news/local/wral_investigates/story/7561544/ While the lottery meets its revenue raising goals, cuts elsewhere in the state budget mean the stream of funding for education has continued a downward trend. This is from the link above: A look at the general fund education allotment since the lottery was established shows spending slowly increased, but the actual percentage of the general fund allotted to education has dropped. “I don't think we've ever seen the lottery as a game changer. We've seen it as: this is a nice addition to our portfolio,” said Wake County Debt Manager Nicole Kreiser. The problem, she says, is that state leaders pulled back corporate tax receipts that were also going to build schools. “It's essentially gone and we've been left with the lottery, so that may be a supplant issue,” Kreiser said. Just last year the NC Lottery had its highest sales ever, sending $419 million to education. This year it will provide $402 million. One of the main stated goals when the lottery was passed was reduction in class sizes, but now we're laying off teachers? Something smells rotten. If you can't smell it, you might want to check your political sniffer.
In my opinion since the lottery is giving to the schools the state has pulled back on what it allots for education. Contrary to what people know all the money given for education is not spent on it. You would have to ask our reps where it all goes. And yes lottery sales have dropped, due to the economy.
When supers and principals are making 100K then there is a problem. I'm not for capping salaries or anything but that is ridiculous when you consider teachers make beans.
As for the lottery, I often told all the lemmings out there that it will not do a thing for education except give a reason for the government to spend it on something else. Hope. Change. Tilt
My political sniffer is just fine as the actual dollar amount has still been increasing to education. Foolish spending, not lack of funds. Bottom line is the lottery is a tax on the ignorant and the hopeful. More revenues have come in for education since the lottery came aboard. But there is sure a lot of upper management and middle management positions in education (and a lot of state government). As for reduction in class size, I've always wondered how politicians can promise this without providing funding for more buildings? They can hire more teachers, but I've never walked in many school buildings with empty classrooms waiting for a teacher. Political smoke and mirrors is all we get when the same party is in charge for over 100 years.
I hear what you're saying and I really do sympathize, but things are tough all over. The situation you describe is the norm in American business these days, at least for those of us that still have a job. Industry has been cut to the bone-anyone that doesn't "add value" to the organization is long since gone. Based solely on my own experience with the school system, I'm not sure the same can be said of the self-sustaining school bureaucracy.
Sorry, I must have misunderstood "Hope. Change. Tilt". Is "Hope. Change. <fill in the blank>" now shorthand for anything you don't like? I must have missed the memo...
