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Welcome

 

In this week’s CommenTerry, I discuss the so–called "LEA adjustment" or "flex cut." But do not expect me to defend the policy…ain’t gonna happen.

 

Bulletin Board


  • Learn what politicians, left–wing economic professors and the liberal media don’t want you to know about economics, all without the confusion and clutter of complicated mathematical equations. Attend the Civitas Institute’s Free Market Academy on Tuesday June 7 and Wednesday June 8 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville, NC. (Please note: The workshop will be divided into two evening sessions.) Cost is $5.00. Register online at http://www.nccivitas.org/events/ or call 919–834–2099.

  • Early April marks a major milestone for college–bound high school seniors: the end of a long college search. That task may be easier in the future, thanks to a new website created by the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. NC College Finder (nccollegefinder.org) provides a wide range of information on 54 accredited 4–year universities in the state.
  • The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle and high school courses in North Carolina history. Please provide links to NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to the NC History Project website for further information.

CommenTerry

 

Last week, State Board of Education (SBE) Chairman Bill Harrison attacked the Senate budget proposal, charging that the budget was "full of mixed messages, bait–and–switch games and smoke and mirrors." (A video of Chairman Harrison’s remarks is available here.) Afterward, members of the SBE gave Harrison a standing ovation and passed a resolution, which had not been written at the time, that communicated their collective displeasure for the budget. Score a point for groupthink.

 

The resolution itself details three specific policy complaints, but I will save discussion of pre–kindergarten and reading diagnostic programs for another time. You’re welcome. Instead, I will focus on the "flex cut" (also known as a "flexibility adjustment," "negative reserve," "discretionary reduction," and "LEA adjustment") imposed on all North Carolina school districts. Essentially, the flex cut requires school districts to return a pre–determined amount of money given to them by the state.

 

Democratic legislators initiated the flex cut two years ago as a way to conceal cuts to public education. The Democratic majority passed a budget that included a $225 million flex cut for the 2009–10 school year and a $304.8 million cut the year after. The 2011–13 budget proposed by Governor Perdue maintained the cuts at the $305 million level. Republicans added millions more. Ironically, the North Carolina Democratic Party complained about the Republicans’ proposed flex cut in a recent press release, which brings new meaning to the term "short–term memory."

 

Moreover, state education leaders spoke rather positively about the $304.8 million flex cut last year. A May 24, 2010 NC Department of Public Instruction press release included the following passage,

 

There are positives in the Senate budget, including the additional flexibility tools local school district leaders can use to make decisions about funding cuts at the local level. The Senate budget also left the discretionary reduction — also known as a negative reserve or flexibility adjustment — at the $304 million level already written in the 2010–11 budget rather than increasing it. The flexibility adjustment is a requirement for local school districts to return a specific amount of state dollars as a part of the budget. State education leaders noted that an increase in this required return likely would result in teacher cuts and larger class sizes in grades four through 12.

 

Eleven months later, Harrison and State Superintendent June Atkinson complained that this "flexibility tool," as proposed by Republicans, would lead to mass layoffs.

 

In an ideal world, legislators — Democrats and Republicans alike — would reduce funding as needed, scrap the flex cut, and allow school districts to spend their state funds as they see fit. Unfortunately, Republicans chose to perpetuate another foolish Democratic idea for the sake of political showmanship.

 

Random Thought

 

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Facts and Stats

 

H200: Appropriations Act of 2011 [Ratified], p. 54.

 

LEA BUDGET ADJUSTMENT

SECTION 7.20.(a) Within 14 days of the date this act becomes law, the State Board of Education shall notify each local school administrative unit and charter school of the amount the unit or charter school must reduce from the State General Fund appropriations. The State Board shall determine the amount of the reduction for each unit and charter school on the basis of average daily membership.

SECTION 7.20.(b) Each unit or charter school shall report to the Department of Public Instruction on the flexibility budget reductions it has identified for the unit within 30 days of the date this act becomes law.


Mailbag

 

I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at [email protected].

 

Education Acronym of the Week

 

LEA — Local Education Agency

 

Quote of the Week


"I’m so distressed about this, I just wanted you to hear the terrible disgust in my voice."

—Bev Perdue as quoted in a Charlotte Observer editorial, "GOP budget is bad–but not as bad as hype," Sunday, June 5, 2011. The author points out that the Senate education budget is 1.1 percent less than what Perdue proposed.

Click here for the Education Update archive