Tracking the Cuts: The Dismantling of our Public Schools
The final budget numbers for Gaston County Schools are in – and 31 teacher assistants have lost their jobs.
School officials were able to save 19 other jobs that were on the chopping block – those TAs were moved into other teacher assistant jobs thanks to federal money earmarked for disadvantaged schools.
There is a possibility that seven of the 31 teacher assistant positions will be rehired at the start of the school year, but that remains unclear.
Gaston County 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 lindsay@ncpolicywatch.com.
Alamance-Burlington:
- 17 teaching positions lost;
- 35 teacher assistant positions lost;
- 2 assistant principal positions lost;
- 3 directors lost;
- 4 student-support psychologist positions lost;
- $1.6 million in cuts for classroom supplies, technology and staff development [The Times News]
Brunswick County:
- 19 teacher assistant positions lost;
- Instructional supplies reduced by $48,407; planning to restore with local funds. However, the per pupil amount will likely decrease slightly because we have the same amount of funding and anticipate more students. [Officials from Brunswick County Public Schools]
Buncombe County:
- 24 teacher assistants lost;
- Teacher assistants who remain will face reduced hours and days on the job. [Black Mountain News]
Burke County
- $1.35 million budget reduction;
- 43.5 teaching positions eliminated;
- 2 instructional support positions eliminated. [The News Herald]
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]
Caldwell County:
- 43 teaching positions lost;
- 30 teacher assistant positions lost;
- 2 instructional support positions lost;
- Class sizes will increase from one to three students per class;
- Funding for textbooks was cut by 77 percent, a $634,000 reduction;
- Funding for instructional supplies – which covers basic supplies such as paper and pencils – was cut by 51 percent, a reduction of $374,000. [The News-Topic]
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]
Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools
- 220 teacher assistant positions lost;
- Reduced hours and days for teacher assistants;
- Reduction for instructional supplies. [CMS 2013-14 Budget Report]
Cleveland County
- 50-60 teaching positions will likely be eliminated;
- 30 teacher assistant positions eliminated;
- Dozens of teacher assistants should expect reduced hours. [Shelby Star]
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]
Franklin County
- 23 teacher assistant positions lost over the past five years;
- Cuts to instructional supplies and other areas TBD
Gaston County
- 50 teacher assistant positions eliminated, on top of 50 lost teacher assistant positions cut last year;
- 31 of those positions were actual layoffs; 19 others were moved to disadvantaged schools thanks to the availability of federal funds earmarked for those schools;
- It is possible that seven TAs will be rehired at the start of the school year. [Gaston Gazette]
Guilford County:
- No TAs cut in exchange for all 1,300 teacher assistants losing 7 paid workdays. [News & Record]
Iredell-Statesville Schools:
- 46 teaching positions eliminated
- 60 teacher assistant positions eliminated [Hickory Daily Record]
Onslow County:
- 169 positions will not be funded for teachers, teacher assistants and instructional support. [WITN.com]
Nash-Rocky Mount Schools:
- 40 teacher assistant positions eliminated. [Rocky Mount Telegram]
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]
Roanoke Rapids Graded School District
- 12 teaching positions eliminated. [The Daily Herald]
Rowan-Salisbury Schools:
- More than 80 positions will be lost;
- $600,000 cut to instructional supplies. [Salisbury Post]
Scotland County
- 45 teacher assistant positions eliminated, which includes 25 layoffs;
- All TAs will see their salaries reduced to 82 percent of what they would normally receive;
- Other bookkeeping, custodial and finance positions will be eliminated. [The Laurinburg Exchange]
Stanly County
- Teacher assistants hours cut by 30 minutes each day;
- Four teacher assistant positions will be eliminated;
- One custodian position and one receptionist position will be eliminated
- Textbooks will be reduced by $75,000. [The Stanly News and Press]
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