Seems a bit overstated. Crony capitalism always has plenty of vocal defenders. Take the Ex-Im Bank. It benefits a handful of companies. Why should the government be subsidizing them? NC is no longer subsidizing Hollywood? Oh no, boo hoo. The Chamber of Commerce has zero credibilty with me since they started pushing amnesty. You make it sound like the community college system has been ended. i know for a fact it hasn't. NC has been a big spending, high tax state for way too long. Cutting back a bit is not going to be a disaster, but you are typical of the big government, crony capitalists who make it sould like the last dollar pissed away on "education" or whatever is the only one spent on it.
Isn't school funding a local responsibility? Maybe they should stop spending so much on bussing for racial balance and divert some of that money to more productive uses, but of course that won't fly with you libs. All the rich libs I know send their kids to private school anyway and probably buy their own laptops. They could care less about public schools. It's only about the unions and trying to make republicans and particularly the Tea party look bad.
First, there are no public sector unions in North Carolina. From a national perspective pay for teachers ranked 46th in the nation in 2013/2014. This coming year it will rank 49th. - while our academic test results rank at 26th. All the surrounding states have starting teaching salaries that are $10K more than North Carolina. A starting teacher in South Carolina earns more than a 17 year veteran teacher in North Carolina. Funding of teacher salaries and text books is a STATE responsibility in North Carolina. I wish we had local school districts where the residents could vote locally to pass a school budget with associated taxes each year. I will note that the states with locally controlled school districts rank in the top 25 states in education in the U.S., while the states with state-controlled K-12 education funding rank in the bottom.
Whether the funding is state or local, however, may not be the determining variable. Don't be disappointed if you get local funding and nothing changes.
States which have local school districts where the citizens vote each year on a school budget (and associated taxes) have a huge advantage over state controlled school systems. The ability of the local community to set teacher's salaries, construction spending, and operational expenses (books, etc.) allows the local citizens to have a strong voice in the quality of education. There is a reason that states that utilize local school districts consistently rank at the top of K-12 education in the U.S., and states with state-controlled systems rank at the bottom. Pushing funding decisions down to the local level is the most significant administrative factor impacting educational results in the U.S.
And you may be right. And FWIW I agree with you. However, it's important to remember that there are other important variables beyond local vs state/federal control. The federal govt, for example, pours tons of money into education, but the results are less than encouraging. The schools get worse and worse. The solution? More money. But the amount of money is of less importance than how it's spent. And you'd be astonished at how federal money is spent. Therefore, local control is arguably important. But of equal importance is how that control is exercised.