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The NCGA issued a mandate lowering class size in K - 3, a great thing on the surface. However, they provided no funding to hire the certified teachers needed to teach these classes or money to build the schools needed to house these classes. For Wake county to implement this, they will fire ALL specialists in Elementary School and eliminate specials. They will need that money to hire more certified teachers and the space to house classes. 4th and 5th have no caps, they will make those classes larger.
This will cost taxpayers $27 million dollars! It is estimated that Wake county would need an extra 400+ classrooms. The article below is from January now that the school board is drafting a budget they said all specialists (art, PE, Music, etc ) would be fired. NC lowers K-3 class sizes, schools warn arts and PE might be cut | News & Observer
HB -13 is the fix for the current mandate but it is stalled in the Senate Rule Committee. It does not lower the caps as drastically and would allows schools the flexibility they need to continue to offer specials to elementary school kids.
This does impact more than Wake County but taxpayers here should know that we are going to pay more for less if HB-13 does not pass. If the elementary school near your house does not offer Art, Music, etc do you think people with young families will want to buy it when you go to sell?
Why does North Carolina seem to be moving backward in time? It is so very discouraging that this state does not put the monies needed into education! The schools here are lacking in so many areas compared to other parts of the US. And then there is Wake county, as a whole, being one district. It is too large to be an effective district. This is probably my biggest gripe as a new resident of NC, the education system.
Why does North Carolina seem to be moving backward in time? It is so very discouraging that this state does not put the monies needed into education! The schools here are lacking in so many areas compared to other parts of the US. And then there is Wake county, as a whole, being one district. It is too large to be an effective district. This is probably my biggest gripe as a new resident of NC, the education system.
One of the only things that John Edwards got right was the concept of "Two Americas."
We most definitely have "Two North Carolinas."
With tremendous and nonproductive tension between poorer rural areas and wealthier areas in the General Assembly.
Why does North Carolina seem to be moving backward in time? It is so very discouraging that this state does not put the monies needed into education! The schools here are lacking in so many areas compared to other parts of the US. And then there is Wake county, as a whole, being one district. It is too large to be an effective district. This is probably my biggest gripe as a new resident of NC, the education system.
But everyone comes here for the lower cost of living and taxes!
Unfortunately, if you want comparable schools to areas of the country with higher cost of living, something's got to give. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Nobody wants higher taxes because it will cut into the number of square feet they can get in their new construction mcmansion on .05 acres. Cost of living was one of the reasons we moved down here, but I'm fully aware that as the area grows and demands on education grows, the taxes just can't stay as low as they are.
If they really lower class sizes to 18 in K-3 what you're really going to say good bye to is TAs. I'm from NY, where they can't hire people fast enough to increase the tax burden on citizens ($15/hour lunch aides, $30/hour bus drivers), but even up in our district, there were no TAs in elementary school. None.
But everyone comes here for the lower cost of living and taxes!
Unfortunately, if you want comparable schools to areas of the country with higher cost of living, something's got to give. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Nobody wants higher taxes because it will cut into the number of square feet they can get in their new construction mcmansion on .05 acres. Cost of living was one of the reasons we moved down here, but I'm fully aware that as the area grows and demands on education grows, the taxes just can't stay as low as they are.
The point of my post is that you are going to pay higher taxes on the local level if HB-13 does not pass and your schools are not going to be better for the money you are going to have to pay. You will have elementary schools that do not offer Art, PE, and Music! I do not know about you but I am not in favor of paying more for sub-par schools. Yes, as the demands grow taxes will go up but not 27 million so our schools can offer less.
This is not about transplants coming here for bigger homes it is about the Senate not giving a damn about the voters because both natives and transplants are going to pay in many ways if HB-13 is not passed.
This NCGA is not small government, that's for sure! They keep wanting to have their thumbs all over local jurisdictions. How 'bout you let the school systems do their own thing, NCGA? Pretty sure the professionals working in our schools know more about education than you do.
But everyone comes here for the lower cost of living and taxes!
Unfortunately, if you want comparable schools to areas of the country with higher cost of living, something's got to give. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Nobody wants higher taxes because it will cut into the number of square feet they can get in their new construction mcmansion on .05 acres. Cost of living was one of the reasons we moved down here, but I'm fully aware that as the area grows and demands on education grows, the taxes just can't stay as low as they are.
That stereotype is just that, a stereotype! I moved from Texas, the cost of living is just about even. We paid high (3%) property taxes in Texas, but the ISD we lived in was superior! But the ISD was much, much smaller than Wake County. Wake County is too large and could be better managed if they had smaller districts, maybe by city and not the whole county. Then there is the NCGA that make decisions as if we live in the stone age.
The point of my post is that you are going to pay higher taxes on the local level if HB-13 does not pass and your schools are not going to be better for the money you are going to have to pay. You will have elementary schools that do not offer Art, PE, and Music! I do not know about you but I am not in favor of paying more for sub-par schools. Yes, as the demands grow taxes will go up but not 27 million so our schools can offer less.
This is not about transplants coming here for bigger homes it is about the Senate not giving a damn about the voters because both natives and transplants are going to pay in many ways if HB-13 is not passed.
They're in a deficit, and I don't consider smaller class sizes to be "less". It says right in the article that the higher class sizes were being used to fund art, PE, etc. I am all for lower class sizes - if it means a tax increase, in order to keep art and PE, I'm ok with that. Others may not agree.
That stereotype is just that, a stereotype! I moved from Texas, the cost of living is just about even. We paid high (3%) property taxes in Texas, but the ISD we lived in was superior! But the ISD was much, much smaller than Wake County. Wake County is too large and could be better managed if they had smaller districts, maybe by city and not the whole county. Then there is the NCGA that make decisions as if we live in the stone age.
I agree about WCPSS being out of hand. But smaller school systems come with higher cost.
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