Why does the Wake County Schools have a budget shortfall?  Let’s review.

  1. County commissioners gave the school system $11.8 million less than requested by the school board.  Given that Democrats control both the county commission and the school board, there is a popcorn-worthy fight around the corner.
  2. The Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly gave teachers a “larger-than-expected teacher pay raise.”  When the legislature raises teacher pay by changing the state salary schedule, school districts that use county money for teaching positions must match the raise awarded to their state-funded counterparts.  Last year, there were 5,752 locally-funded teachers statewide and 911 of them worked in Wake County.  Raises for staff and administrator positions funded by the county will also require additional dollars.

Let’s make this clear.  Wake County does not have a budget shortfall because of changes in state funding.  The N.C. General Assembly continues to increase funding for K-12 schools.

If you want to gripe about the legislature approving larger-than-expected raises for teachers, then please do so below so that I have a record of it.