Lobbyist's Update on Raises

I hate to have to report that our attempt to increase salaries for school psychologists and others with the "six year" masters degree or doctorate failed this session. We had hopes for the Senate, but without success.

We know some Senators -- notably Vernon Malone and Tony Rand -- were very interested in our issue. But budget talks are a mystery cloaked in a puzzle, wrapped in an enigma, and when the Senate budget came out of its cocoon, what little new money was available for education went for More at Four and the UNC system. Across-the-board teacher salary increases were way below what the Governor wanted.

We have had encouragement for the coming session, which starts in February. Sen. Rand urges us to try again. Rep. Rick Glazier, who received NCSPA's public service award for 2005, has promised to work hard on this issue in 2009.

Conventional wisdom, or maybe it's folklore, says a new bill usually takes 4 years to go through the General Assembly. Let the conventional wisdom be true.

Thanks to Carol Vatz, Chris Tufts and Sarah Greene, who worked hard on this. Thanks also to those of you who sent in stories of your work with children. They were very effective. Finally, thanks to NCAE and its lobbyist on this issue, Marge Foreman, who worked hard.

Steve Shaber

House Budget

Excerpt: June 2008 From the Ground Up Newsletter
http://www.ncjustice.org/

2008 Legislative Session Moving Full Speed Ahead!

Last week, the NC House approved its budget proposal. The $21.3 billion budget included $11 billion for total education spending, $7.7 billion of which would go for K-12 public education. The House included a 3% salary increase for teachers and administrators and a salary increase of 2.75% or $1100, whichever is greater, for all other state employees. Other items worth noting in the House budget include:

K-12 Public Education
· $15 million in one-time money for dropout prevention grants
· $70 million in ABC bonus funds
· $6.2 million more for children with disabilities
· $3.2 million more for academically gifted students
· $3.4 million to expand Learn and Earn high school programs
· $45 million for diesel fuel costs for school buses
· $23 million to expand More at Four by 4,200 slots
· $6 million more for the Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund (DSSF)
· $2.9 million more for the Low-Wealth Supplemental Fund
· $500,000 for Communities in Schools' at-risk youth programs
· $1 million expansion for Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC)
· $10 million for gang prevention and intervention.

The budget will now go to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees, which will make adjustments to the House budget. Then the full Senate Appropriations Committee will vote on the Senate version. If there are items up for debate, a Conference Committee made up of House and Senate members will create a final version, which the two bodies will adopt and send to the governor to be signed or vetoed. Senate members have already expressed their intentions of increasing the pay raise for teachers and funding for the Disadvantaged Student Supplemental Fund (DSSF).

The General Assembly has a proposed deadline of early July to finalize the budget and wrap up the entire 2008 session.

Update on the 5% and 10% raises

Our lobbyist, Steve Shaber, reports that the money for our raises is not in the House budget. Ordinarily, the fact that the House has omitted it would not mean anything with regard to the Senate, because the Senate typically has no role in the House version of the budget. But the subcommittees are meeting jointly (i.e., the House and Senate members are meeting together in a single meeting) to a greater degree than in the past, and the Senate seems to have had some input into the House budget this year -- which is unique. The House version of the budget goes to the floor today for what's known as "second reading." It will be debated all day and probably into the evening. Eventually it will pass. Tomorrow (Thursday) it will have its "third reading," which is the final vote in the House. There will probably be some debate, but certainly less.

After the budget passes third reading in the House, it will go to the Senate, which may rewrite it as much as it likes. Given the extent to which the Senate seems to have been included in the House budget process so far, the Senate may stick more closely to the House budget than it usually does. It is unclear, however, the extent to which the house and senate agree at this point.

Nevertheless, it appears that we may still be alive in the mind of the Senate. Regardless, Senator Rand may still be able to put our money in the Senate version of the budget. If it is in the Senate budget, but not in the House, then it will go to conference committee to be worked out.

Note:
Governor Easley wanted a 7% raise for teachers. The House gives 3%.
Governor Easley wanted 1.5% plus bonus for state employees. The House gives 2.75% or $1,100, whichever is greater.

Dropout Prevention Forum

From:
http://campaign-archive.com/?u=5a8d71688e2ed0ea815d2aebc&id=yLyXM7R5Jw&e=%5bUNIQID%5d

Staying in School, Preparing for Life: Prevention in North Carolina 's Rural Communities is a Rural Roundtable discussion with state leaders on dropout prevention. On Friday, June 6, 2008 8:45 a.m. to Noon, find out what North Carolinians can do at the community and state levels to confront this crisis and help our children stay in school and succeed. For every 100 students entering ninth grade in North Carolina , only 70 graduate four years later. That means 30 lack what state Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee calls "the bare minimum for economic survival." Rural communities, whose resources are already stretched thin, need creative, practical strategies to help students reach their potential and survive in the global economy.

Go to the above link to learn more.