State budget needs a swift resolution

Editorial by Burlington Times-News, July 11, 2015.

State lawmakers head back to Raleigh Monday night after taking a post-July 4 vacation. They probably need the rest. There’s a lot of work left to do.

Yes, it seems we’re in for a long hot summer of hemming, hawing and horse trading as the state House and Senate thrash out the differences between their two budgets. And Alamance County Republican Rep. Dennis Riddell put it directly but mildly when he told the Times-News last week, “There’s quite a discrepancy just in education.”

And when it comes to education — particularly teachers and teachers’ assistants — we hope the House sticks to its guns.

In the matter of teachers’ assistants, the Senate budget proposes to eliminate 8,500 positions statewide. The idea is to use that money to pay for 2,000 new teaching positions and in the process reduce class size. That’s a noble idea to be sure and Alamance County Republican Sen. Rick Gunn makes a good point about the positives to be gained by putting quality teachers in front of smaller groups of students.

But — and there’s always a but — eliminating more than one-third of the teachers’ assistants in the state could create more problems than more teachers can solve. Assistants are not babysitters. They help monitor mandated standardized tests. They deal with unruly or recalcitrant students, so the teacher can still work with the rest of the class. They serve as ad hoc medics in the absence of school nurses. These days, in some school systems, they fill in as bus drivers when regular drivers aren’t available.

“For what they are paid they are one of the best values you have in a classroom,” said Riddell, whose background is in teaching and education. “I think some of my colleagues misunderstand what teacher assistants do — they think of them as babysitters.”

Meanwhile, school systems like Alamance-Burlington are on hold while the House and Senate thrash out the budget divide. Even without the Senate cuts, the ABSS budget already calls for 40 fewer teacher assistants. The system won’t look for any until the state budget is hashed.

The House and Senate are also split on other education matters. The state Senate’s budget plan, for example, would eliminate retiree health-care benefits for teachers (and any other state employees) hired after Jan. 1, 2016. It’s a large expense to be sure, but it’s also a cut that certainly won’t help recruit the large number of quality teachers also sought by the Senate proposal.

And then there’s the future of drivers education to consider. Where will it be offered and what’s it going to cost?

With school system budgets in limbo it would behoove the General Assembly to act as quickly as possible. Year-round schools in Alamance County start before the end of this month — and have started already in other parts of the state. The regular school calendar begins on Aug. 24. Gunn said the deadline to wrap the budget is before Aug. 14. Riddell said he’s hopeful it’ll be done by the end of July.

We hope Riddell is right.