Property owners in Durham County will be hit with a 3-cent tax rate hike, thanks to Durham County commissioners. The only thing left is for the board to officially seal the deal for the 2013-14 budget, which contains the tax hike. The public school system faired quite well — ending up with $2.4 million more in funding than the county manager had recommended. As the Herald Sun reports, there was the predictable slap at the General Assembly from the board.
Page and Commissioner Wendy Jacobs also said they want the school board to feel free to ask the county for a mid-year supplement if public schools fare poorly in the N.C. General Assembly’s continuing deliberations about the state budget.
“The big thing I wanted to be sure of was that the progress we’re currently making in our schools will not be deterred,” added Commissioner Ellen Reckhow.
Ruffin had initially recommended “flat funding” for DPS, a request system leaders reckon would translate into a continuation of the $108.7 million in local subsidy the schools received from the county in fiscal 2012-13.
School officials contended they needed additional funds to cover, among other things, enrollment growth that’s largely projected to occur in Durham’s charter-school population. DPS by law has to share its local subsidy with charter schools.
Check out that last paragraph excerpted above. The implication is that somehow charter schools are taking something away from the community. That’s ridiculous and, of course, false. The school system has to “by law” provide funding to charter schools because charter schools are PUBLIC schools. How long do we have to wait for public officials and reporters to accept that fact? How long do we have to wait for them to acknowledge that parents are demanding choices that best meet their needs? What’s clear is that empowering parents is seen as a problem by the Big Education status quo.
