Raleigh — With schools across North Carolina recently reopening, our students and teachers are back in the classrooms and working hard.
During the General Assembly session that just ended, my fellow House members and I took several significant steps to ease their way and also to help those students interested in moving on to college.
The policy changes we made create a system of education that runs from preschool through college and along the way helps students remain healthy and focused on their work. A main piece of this is the EARN Scholars programs, which will give 25,000 low-income students $4,000 a year grants to help pay for their college educations and allow them to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and no debt.
We also approved a new law that provides for additional support to high-need schools. Schools classified as high-need schools will receive more National Board Certified Teachers to help lower the student-teacher ratio and to give children more individualized attention. The bill also allows these teachers to use research-based teaching techniques that go beyond the standard course of study.
The total amount of spending on education is $11.5 billion — about 56 percent of the state’s budget.
Some other major investments in education we recently approved include:
– An average pay raise for teachers of 5 percent, along with a $250 bonus for first-year teachers that will push their starting salaries to $30,000. This increase will help us continue to recruit the new teachers we need in both our urban and rural communities.
– $7 million in grants to help schools and groups working to improve the state’s graduation rate by reducing the number of high-school dropouts.
– $5.7 million to hire 100 literacy coaches for middle schools.
– $12 million to improve instructional technology in our schools.
– $3 million for pilot programs at eight high schools where each student and teacher will get a computer.
– $15 million for a facilities and equipment grant program for community colleges and $10 million for more equipment.
I am confident these investments will pay off both here in our district and in our entire state and I’m proud to have supported them.
If you would like more information about the state budget or other recently enacted legislation, visit http://www.ncleg.net/sessions/2007/budget/budgetreport7-27.pdf or www.ncleg.net. Please also feel free to call or e-mail my office.