Right now NC is 46th nationally in per-pupil spending, and even South Carolina spends $1,385 more per student than we do. In order to get our schools back on the right trajectory, this budget must include:
- A serious plan to raise teacher pay to the national average.
- Restoration of textbook funding to pre-recession levels.
- Re-hiring the 7,000 teaching assistants that have been eliminated.
If this budget is serious about improving our schools, it must include these priorities and I urge you to vote against any budget that fails to address textbooks, teacher salaries and TAs.