Current:Home > InvestNorth Carolina budget delays are worsening teacher hiring crisis, education leaders warn-LoTradeCoin
North Carolina budget delays are worsening teacher hiring crisis, education leaders warn
View Date:2025-01-14 01:23:05
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Public education leaders and legislative Democrats held events Monday across North Carolina criticizing Republicans for their slow progress negotiating a state budget, which school administrators said has made it difficult to fill staffing vacancies.
As students prepare to return to the classroom this month, House and Senate Republicans are debating dozens of outstanding spending and policy issues within a two-year spending plan that was supposed to take effect July 1. It will include pay raises for teachers, legislative leaders have assured, but they have not disclosed the amount.
The absence of a new budget creates major obstacles for hiring and retention of key staff, including bus drivers, teachers and classroom aides, said Chris Heagarty, vice chair of the Wake County Board of Education and a former Democratic state legislator.
North Carolina school districts were already struggling to attract new teachers and keep current ones amid a nationwide teacher shortage, Heagarty said Monday at the state Legislative Building. Now, their inability to promise prospective hires a competitive salary is driving away talent and making the local shortage even worse, he explained.
“In today’s labor market, people aren’t going to wait around and see what they might be paid,” he said.
Senate leader Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, told reporters Monday that a budget vote would likely happen the second week of September. Republicans hold a narrow veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
“The folks that are going to get those raises will get those raises,” Berger said. “It’s just that they might be delayed a little bit.”
Also Monday, the Rev. William Barber II, a prominent civil rights leader from Goldsboro, gathered fellow clergy leaders at the Legislative Building to demand Republicans “cease and desist from culture wars” and focus on providing residents a living wage.
veryGood! (2579)
Related
- Judge weighs the merits of a lawsuit alleging ‘Real Housewives’ creators abused a cast member
- G-7 nations back strong supply chains for energy and food despite global tensions
- Matthew Perry's Family Speaks Out After Actor's Death
- Israel is reassessing diplomatic relations with Turkey due to leader’s ‘increasingly harsh’ remarks
- See Leonardo DiCaprio's Transformation From '90s Heartthrob to Esteemed Oscar Winner
- French Jewish groups set up a hotline for people in the community traumatized by Israel-Hamas war
- Colombian police continue search for father of Liverpool striker Díaz
- Moms for Liberty unexpectedly finds itself at the center of a heated suburban Indiana mayoral race
- Quincy Jones' Cause of Death Revealed
- Protect Your Car (and Sanity) With This Genius Waterproof Seat Hoodie
Ranking
- Jana Kramer’s Ex Mike Caussin Shares Resentment Over Her Child Support Payments
- The FDA warns consumers to stop using several eyedrop products due to infection risk
- 5 children die in boat accident while on school outing to Kenya amusement park
- Winning matters, but youth coaches shouldn't let it consume them. Here are some tips.
- Detroit-area police win appeal over liability in death of woman in custody
- Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries. The war robs Gaza of funeral rites
- Adolis Garcia's walk-off homer in 11th inning wins World Series Game 1 for Rangers
- JAY-Z on the inspiration behind Blue Ivy's name
Recommendation
-
'This dude is cool': 'Cross' star Aldis Hodge brings realism to literary detective
-
Matthew Perry Dead at 54: Relive His Extraordinarily Full Life in Pictures
-
Louisiana and Amtrak agree to revive train service between New Orleans, Baton Rouge
-
JAY-Z says being a beacon, helping out his culture is what matters to him most
-
UConn, Kansas State among five women's college basketball games to watch this weekend
-
AP Sources: Auto workers and Stellantis reach tentative contract deal that follows model set by Ford
-
Residents of Maine gather to pray and reflect, four days after a mass shooting left 18 dead
-
Manhunt for Maine shooting suspect Robert Card prompts underwater searches