Education caught in the middle of NC budget battle

NEW BERN, N.C. - Gov. Bev Perdue spent Monday in the east campaigning for education as her budget battle continues with the General Assembly.

State senators, who are expected to roll out their budget plan before Memorial Day- say they're doing more to protect education than their colleagues in the House.

The Senate is looking to budget $4,800 per student in public education; that's only $200 short of what Perdue proposed, but she says it's doesn't prove much.

Gov. Bev Perdue says she refuses to be the first governor in our state's history to turn her back on education- but she can't say the same for state lawmakers.   "For the first time in the history of North Carolina we have a General Assembly who doesn't seem to quite understand how important the investment in our children are in our classrooms,” she said. 

Sen. Brent Jackson (R) says the Senate’s plan aims to put quality educators in the classrooms and add more than a thousand teaching positions in grades one through three.  Their version would also spend $117 million more than the governor's on capital building projects.  Perdue balanced her budget and protected education by keeping the temporary penny sales tax- but republicans are determined to let it expire - a promise they made during campaigning..

Nine on Your Side’s Andrea Blanford asked Gov. Perdue why the fate of education is contingent on the penny sales tax. 

Blanford asked, "Why can't we be more creative with what goes first?"

"Education will be the first thing to fail according to their budgets,” said Perdue.  “I don't write their budgets.  I sent them a budget that was balanced that fully funded teachers and teachers' assistants.

"That's not true at all,” said Jackson.  “I think we've looked at all avenues, and I think we've looked at every department, every agency, every division.  From what I'm understanding and I know I'm a freshman, but from what I'm understanding, we've looked more with a closer microscope this year than there's been looked at in years."

Jackson represents Duplin County where, right after the House budget came down, the local school board notified 130 teachers and teacher assistants they could lose their jobs next fall.  He says that was premature.  "For them to be doing that at this stage of the game tells me they're playing politics as usual and to me I don't think that's the right thing to be doing with the teachers' lives nor the students."

Sen. Jackson says there's a misconception about how these education cuts will impact our state.  He says, education must take a hit right now because the state is hemorrhaging money.