Governor McCrory presses lawmakers for budget deal
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Governor Pat McCrory is facing the very real prospect that the General Assembly will not be able to come to an agreement on the budget before the end of the fiscal year - one week from Monday.
So what would that mean for those teacher pay raises we've heard so much about?
The Governor addressed those issues Monday afternoon in a hastily-called news conference. He said his administration is making the necessary preparations in case there is not budget amendment by July 1.
Republicans in the House and Senate are trying to hammer out a 21 billion dollar spending plan to amend the state's current 2-year budget.
The Senate plan includes an average 11% teacher pay raise - but only for educators who give up tenure.
The House plan includes a 5% average teacher pay raise - but educators can keep tenure.
The Senate wants to eliminate nearly 75-hundred teacher assistant positions to pay for the raises, while the House wants to use new funds from lottery sales.
So while the Governor's party works out its differences, McCrory issued a directive Monday keeping current education funding in place.
"This directive will not reduce spending for teacher's assistants below this year's funding. I know that's an important issue right now for many educators because of the decisions they've gotta make over the next several weeks," said McCrory.
So teacher assistant positions will stay 'status quo' until a budget deal is reached, but teacher pay stays the same as well: no raises until the legislature strike a deal.
