Issue Position: Education -- Sufficient Funding and Maximum Choice

Issue Position

Education is the doorway to a successful life. That's why the North Carolina Constitution guarantees to citizens a free and sound basic education and higher education that is "free of expense" "as far as practicable." Meeting this core state government responsibility depends utterly on revenues from a successful private sector. And these resources must be spent efficiently and effectively.

Often, the education debate goes no deeper than our national ranking in teacher pay or education expenditures. Bare money demands ignore other state government needs as well as the failure to translate greater spending into better results for students. Real solutions are more complex.

North Carolinians want teachers to be compensated fairly and schools to be well-funded. We have boosted teacher compensation in both the 2014 and 2015 sessions and are building back K-12 funding toward the per-pupil peak reached before the financial crisis. The 2015 budget's K-12 appropriation is $1.5 billion higher than 2010's. We also have stayed true to North Carolina's commitment to its public universities by proposing $1 billion in bond-funded infrastructure.

Equally important, the General Assembly must continue to afford parents options to make the most of their children's educational opportunities. I support funding fairness for charter schools and continued expansion of opportunity scholarships for disadvantaged children trapped in failing schools. I also will support persistent experimentation and innovative education management and teaching methods aimed at boosting student achievement, including local flexibility. This requires accountability and discarding rather than institutionalizing failed efforts.

Source