The North Carolina legislature adjourned from their special session yesterday without addressing their latest unfunded mandate. The General Assembly passed a law requiring smaller class sizes but did not allocate funds to cover the costs. Schools across the state will be required to cut programs like arts, music and even physical education if the legislature doesn’t provide more money.
It’s a cynical ploy by Republicans who are using school funding to force county governments to make choices that will hurt their residents. The GOP is using the ploy in their efforts to shrink government, even ones they don’t control. They’re also probably trying to garner support for their voucher programs and expanded charter schools.
They’re betting that the public will blame local school boards and county commissions for a lack of resources for schools and that more parents will demand alternatives to schools that can’t provide supplemental education. Republicans on social media talk about county priorities. Coercion is a more appropriate term.
Policially, the maneuver gives Democrats more ammunition going into the 2018 elections. Republicans have cut per pupil spending dramatically since they took power. While they claim to have provided more funding, their allocations haven’t kept up with growth or inflation. In fact, they’ve already eliminated teachers’ aides from some classrooms and forced schools to reduce supplies going to classrooms. While lowering class size is the right idea, funding it is crucial.
Republicans using children as political footballs is wrong. We need to be strengthening our public schools, not weakening them. Counties that are already struggling shouldn’t be forced to make decisions between providing PE for students and other vital services for their communities. If the General Assembly doesn’t have he money to fund their mandate, then they should admit their tax reform short-changed the people of North Carolina. It’s their job to fund their priorities and not pass the buck to local govenments.
One can only hope the people of beautiful NC will figure it out before it’s too late.
Physical education should be eliminated. It’s time wasted. Students could be learning something.
Anyone who thinks PE or recess should be eliminated, has not taught a group of elementary school boys. Kids need some activity breaks throughout their day, or their focus and concentration suffers.
Another possible reason, which correlates with much of what you’re concerned about: One of the major drawbacks for parents who might be interested in charter or private schools is their *lack* of specials. Most of these schools don’t have much of an athletic program, or music/bands, or art instruction past the “here’s a glob of clay” level.
By shutting these classes down in standard public schools, charters and private schools don’t look so bereft in comparison.
All in tune with the Republican strategy of “starving the beast.” The plan is to do anything that makes government –at all levels–look dysfunctional so that people will feel ok with either the private sector taking over public services, or with no public services being provided at all.
Hopefully, it’s a strategy that’s starting to become obvious and transparent to the America public. When you have school kids shivering in classrooms and not enough teachers to meet mandated teacher-pupil ratios, all the while the GOP is giving tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations, the more lucid and caring among the voters could start to figure things out.