Balance the books: Cutting teachers is not the answer to Perdue’s woes

Gov. Bev Perdue’s recommended cut of nearly $315 million to K-12 education is a threat to the foundation of public education in North Carolina

The N.C. Senate is taking a step in the right direction with its recent budget, but it is not enough.

For a state that boasts such an impressive university system and network of community colleges, public education should not be suffering.

Perdue’s proposal would endanger approximately 3,000 to 4,000 more teaching jobs in addition to cuts from last year.

Fewer teachers means larger classrooms. Individual attention to students is a necessity at all levels of education.

Perdue stated her goal is to retain quality teachers in North Carolina, but quality means little if teachers and classrooms are stretched beyond their means.

Perdue said her overall goal in her proposal is to create local jobs, so why threaten to cut thousands? Economic development starts with the K-12 education system.

A poorly funded education system makes North Carolina less attractive to outside businesses and workers.

The recent N.C. Senate budget contained promising news for teachers. The Senate ignored Perdue’s recommendation to cut $135 million from local assistance funds for poorer school districts.

In addition to revising Perdue’s recommendation, the Senate revised lottery laws to free up revenue for teacher’s salaries.

While the state needs to address the $800 million shortfall in its budget, it should not place such a high burden on public education.

Although there are pending votes in the U.S. Congress for additional education funding to the states, North Carolina should not view the promise of federal funding as a reason to neglect its students and teachers.

Cutting funding in education is not creating jobs for the present or the future.