Union County, NC Board of Education must understand our recession is real

By Oscar Y. Harward
 

Union County, NC and Americans are in a deep recession.  Many citizens have lost their jobs and have lost or are in the process of losing their homes.  Republicans on Capitol Hill and elsewhere are attempting to stop-the-spending.  The fight continues as President Obama and the majority Democrat Party controlled US Senate continues with their usual “tax and spend” policies. Taxpayers are suffering financially as they are struggling with excessive “tax and spend” policies.  NC unemployment remains at approximately 9.7%.

Our Republican Party majority controlled NC General Assembly are attempting to stop the excessive spending in our state as many other state General Assemblies across America are achieving, and just as many local county commissions and municipal councils are making efforts to control “out-of-control” spending.  Their efforts are to spend less during a recession to assist the overburdened taxpayers.

It appears that our Union County Board of Education doesn’t get the message, or just fail to understand, and/or just do not even care.  Many Boards of Education across North Carolina are attempting to assist their taxpayers with massive layoffs of teachers.  Mecklenburg County is laying off some 500 to 600 teachers.  Gaston County is laying off nearly 700 school employees, mainly teachers.  Wake County may be laying off 500 teachers.  Duplin County is cutting some 200 teachers and maybe some 800 more.  Even Ashe County is cutting 10 teachers.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan estimates up to 300,000 educators across the nation could lose their jobs http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4PCTC_enUS376US377&q=teachers+in++NC+laid+off .  If Union County, NC is average, that may represent a 60 teacher layoff.

This cut back from “out-of-control” spending did not start with the new GOP majority after the 2010 General Election wins in the NC General Assembly.  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education laid off hundreds of teachers in June, 2009 http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/48601482.html.

From the Carolina Journal, “The problem with North Carolina’s education system is not a lack of funding. It is a lack of productivity. With 16 percent more funding than public schools spent in the mid-1990s, do today’s public schools perform 16 percent better? Not even close. While the state’s math scores have slightly exceeded the national average since the late 1990s, our reading scores and graduation rates remain substandard.”  Furthermore, “If North Carolina voters knew that their public schools spent about $9,000 per student, it is highly unlikely that most would pay hundreds of millions of dollars in sales taxes to keep the figure from falling to $8,700.” http://www.carolinajournal.com/jhdailyjournal/display_jhdailyjournal.html?id=7802

First, education is very important to our children.  Teaching “honor” to our children by our leaders is, too, most important.

It now appears the Union County Board of Education may not be “openly straightforward” with the citizens of Union County and/or (y)our UC Board of Commissioners on “all school funding” from the Federal Government and the State of NC.  Our UC Board of Education “must” be openly principled as elected or appointed public servants, “honesty” is critical.  UC Board of Education Superintendent, and Members of the Board should either resign or “come clean” with “all funding” to the citizens of Union County and the UC Board of Commissioners.

Currently, the UC Board of Education seem to be willing to cut their new proposed budget with little more than “smoking mirrors” with no teacher layoffs as most other Boards of Education are doing.  This Board continues to squeeze taxpayers for more and more.  

Again, Union County, NC and Americans are in a deep recession and unfortunately, it may get worse.  Many Union County taxpayers are having certain difficulty finding jobs, maintaining a home, paying $3.80/gallon for gasoline, increasing costs of food for their families, healthcare and medicine, and other increasing expenditures.

Instead of being worried about citizens plummeting shortages, it appears our Union County Board of Education may be governing very much as President Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats choose to govern by more “tax and spend”.