General Assembly holds last public hearing for state budget
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The General Assembly held a heated final public hearing on the state budget Wednesday afternoon, causing financial woes for some North Carolina schools.
Wake County Superintendent James Merrill attended the hearing. He told the finance committee that any cuts to education in the state budget would cause a huge impact, especially in a district that serves more than 156,000 students.
He also said it would affect schools already in session.
"About 50,000 students in our district attend school on staggered year-round schedules, primarily to make better use of our public facilities in a rapidly growing metro area. Those teachers, teaching assistants, supplies and classroom needs are in place today, right now. Our students cannot wait for the various levels of government to conclude a budget negotiation, let me be clear about this," continued Merrill. "This means you are currently debating whether to provide money that has already been spent on tens of thousands of students, we simply can't unspend money once negotiations end and the final budget has been decided."
In response to the Senate budget proposal to reduce class size, Merrill said it's a gift they cannot afford.
"Our schools are already so full that reducing class sizes, as described in the Senate budget proposal, would mean adding 145 teachers for which we have no room," said Merrill.
A frustrated Dr. Stephen Scott, president of Wake Tech Community College, said he's tired of waiting for lawmakers to finalize a state budget.
For Wake Tech, the waiting game means not being able to provide enough classes, staff, or supplies for their growing student body.
"Half of my students are in technical programs, the technical programs require a significant amount of IT resources," Scott explained. "We teach culinary, we teach pastry programming. You can't do pretend cakes!"
Classes at Wake Tech start Aug. 17. That's three days after the state's "ideal" Aug. 14 deadline.
"I wouldn't bet on having a budget by Aug. 14, so you're going to keep on going," said Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson County. "We will, until we get it right."
There are also approximately 500 teaching assistants who are waiting to find out if the state budget will include funding for their positions.
