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 Build New Schools
by Tom Campbell
January 11, 2007
North Carolina finds itself in a position where more demands are being made for public funding than we have resources to fill. Our state must prioritize these requests, taking the most important ones first.
Our children’s education is perhaps the number one priority in our state. Budget allocations verify this to be the case. An essential element of that priority is the requirement that we provide suitable classroom space for each child. The coalition “Education: Everybody’s Business” says our state needs to build 266 new schools as well as 4,900 new classrooms in existing schools in order to meet these needs over the next five years. They estimate the costs of this construction to be .8 billion.
North Carolina must address this school construction crisis and the sooner the better. Our counties cannot provide the funds to build these new schools alone, even though this has been our traditional approach. In most instances these counties have depended primarily on property taxes as a funding source, but this clearly isn’t working. We need a two-pronged approach to school construction, a short-term and longer range strategy.
In the short-term there are several things that can be done. The counties need more options for funding school construction. The legislature can give counties the option of adding an additional half-cent sales tax for revenues. Transfer taxes on real estate sales might be the choice for some counties, while an impact fee on new construction might suit others. A menu is needed from which local governments can choose.
Next, the legislature should change the direction of proceeds from the underperforming statewide lottery, designating all the proceeds to the counties to pay for schools. With the exception of a statewide school bond measure for .8 billion in 1996, little help has been provided. The legislature should put a school bond package on the ballot for this fall, at least in the amount of the 1996 bond package.
The longer-term strategy must examine some basic assumptions concerning public schools. We must realize that minimal resources might dictate that we go for utility instead of convenience and beauty. We must examine the size of the campuses on which our schools are built and carefully look at the composition of the schools being built. We certainly wouldn’t advocate a return to the old schoolhouse many of us over the age of 50 attended, but perhaps we have added too many amenities and too much aesthetic beauty. We could, for instance, save both time and costs by adopting standardized plans and using them repeatedly. We should consider build-lease arrangements and refitting of vacated manufacturing facilities and big-box retail sites.
Providing classrooms for our children is one of our highest priorities. We have known we have serious needs for more than a decade and have yet to make the necessary commitment to provide necessary classrooms for children. This is a part of what the Supreme Court says is involved in guaranteeing the opportunity of a sound basic education to every child in our state. We can do nothing less, so let’s do what is necessary now.
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