Tracking the Cuts: The Dismantling of Our Public Schools

The latest cuts to North Carolina’s public schools are in: Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools will lose 19.5 teaching positions, 14 teacher assistant positions, one instructional support position and $4,000 in funds used for the English as a Second Language program for 2013-14.

The district also will receive 78 percent less funding this year for text books and 50 percent less for classroom materials.

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank joins a growing list of school districts that have been forced to make difficult cuts as the 2013-14 school year approaches.

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While the debate rages on about whether or not North Carolina’s General Assembly actually made damaging cuts to public schools with the 2013-15 budget, NC Policy Watch is keeping a running tally of education funding cuts that local school districts are coping with as they open up for the 2013-14 academic year.

The list below links to stories in local media that detail the funding cuts at the school district level. The information in these stories is subject to change. This list will be continually updated; if you have a report to add, please email [email protected]

Buncombe County:

• 24 teacher assistants lost;
• Teacher assistants who remain will face reduced hours and days on the job. [Black Mountain News]

Cabarrus County:

• In May, the system laid off 129 teacher assistant positions; they have been able to restore only 22, resulting in a loss of 107 teacher assistants. [The Hickory Record]

Camden County:

• Camden will lose funding for six teaching positions and four teacher assistant positions;
• Superintendent Hawkins said he plans to fund his district’s teaching and teacher assistant positions that the state will not be paying for this year. [The Daily Advance]

Clinton City Schools:

• 10 teacher positions lost;
• $238k reduction in teacher assistant funding; and
• 51% reduction in funding for instructional supplies.
• The Clinton City Board of Education has not yet decided if local funds can plug some of the holes. [The Sampson Independent]

Craven County:

• 5 teacher assistants will be laid off;
• Additional 19 percent funding reduction for jobs next year and a spending freeze on all teacher assistant positions [WCTI12.com]

Cumberland County:

• 111 teacher assistant positions cut;
• $230,000 cut for instructional supplies. [Fayetteville Observer]

Edenton-Chowan Schools:

• Facing a reduction in state funding of $831,385;
• May cut as many as 8½ teaching positions;
• May cut 8 teacher assistant positions;
• Also faces a 50 percent reduction in funding of classroom materials — it received $132,631 last year, versus $64,926 this year;
• 78 percent reduction in funding of textbooks. [The Daily Advance]

Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools:

• 19.5 teaching positions cut;
• 14 teacher assistant positions cut;
• One instructional support position cut;
• $4,000 in funds used for the English as a Second Language program cut for 2013-14. [The Daily Advance]

Guilford County:

• No TAs cut in exchange for all 1,300 teacher assistants losing 7 paid workdays. [News & Record]

Onslow County:

• 169 positions will not be funded for teachers, teacher assistants and instructional support. [WITN.com]

Perquimans County:

• 6.5 teaching positions lost;
• 5 teacher assistants lost;
• Funding of classroom materials cut to $52,548. Perquimans had been planning on receiving about $107,000, based on student enrollment projections for the upcoming year;
• Textbook funding will also be reduced to $26,000. [The Daily Advance]

Randolph County:

• All teacher assistants will take a 6% reduction in salaries next year;
• The county will also use remaining textbook funding to try to cover remediation and staff development;
• Instructional supplies will take a hit. [The Courier-Tribune]

Rowan-Salisbury Schools:

• More than 80 positions will be lost;
• $600,000 cut to instructional supplies. [Salisbury Post]