Senate calls for bigger classes in all grade levels

It would save N.C. $320M, avoid major budget deficit

By James Romoser
JOURNAL RALEIGH BUREAU
Published: April 7, 2009

RALEIGH

Democratic leaders of the N.C. Senate are proposing to raise class sizes in all grade levels as a way to save money in the next state budget.

The move would save $320 million a year and would help the state avoid a massive projected budget shortfall.

Under a $20 billion spending plan released yesterday by the Senate, the average class size in North Carolina's public schools would increase by two students.

"As a former teacher, I will tell you this was a tough decision for me to make," said Sen. Linda Garrou, the Senate's senior budget writer.

But Garrou, D-Forsyth, said that it was a necessary step in a tight budget year and that the class-size increase would be temporary. The quality of a teacher matters more than the size of a class, she said.

Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, opposes an increase in class sizes. In her budget proposal last month, she recommended other ways of closing the state's shortfall -- most notably, a $1-a-pack tax on cigarettes and a 5 percent tax on alcohol.

Senate leaders did not release any tax proposals yesterday, but their plan is expected to include some level of tax increases on tobacco and alcohol, though smaller than Perdue's increases.

The Senate will likely vote on its budget by the end of the week. After that, the budget will go to the N.C. House, which will likely make changes. Once the two chambers agree on a single document, it will go to Perdue, who is supposed to sign a new budget into law before the start of the state's new fiscal year on July 1.

The Senate's plan is broadly similar to Perdue's plan in that it would make deep spending cuts across state government. Garrou and other budget writers said that they, like Perdue, tried to salvage two key areas: education and economic development.

In their details, the two plans contain a number of differences. The Senate plan would lay off 712 state employees, and it would eliminate another 900 vacant jobs -- larger numbers than the eliminations proposed by Perdue.

The Senate plan would close several state prisons, but not as many as Perdue's plan.

Also, the Senate plan would give more flexibility to the heads of state agencies to find cuts within their own budgets. For instance, agencies would have the option of enacting unpaid furloughs for employees -- an option that Perdue opposes.

But the biggest, and perhaps most contentious, difference between the two plans is the provision for increased class sizes.

Don Martin, the superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system, said that in some classrooms, increasing class size by two students would hurt students' learning.

"Everybody's prepared to do our share to deal with tough times, but two is a pretty big increase," Martin said.

Current class-size averages are mandated by the state and range from 18 students in the lowest grades to 29 students in grades 10, 11 and 12.

In reality, classes can be substantially bigger than that. For instance, schools are allowed to be three students above average and remain in compliance with the state, Martin said.

Garrou said that if the Senate's proposal passes, most of the class-size increases would be achieved through teacher attrition.

Sen. Charlie Alberton, another top budget writer, said that the economic recession has made the task of crafting a balanced budget exceedingly difficult.

"This has been a gut-wrenching process," said Alberton, D-Duplin. "And it continues to be so."

â–* James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com.

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Why don't the people of North Carolina get it?
SEND ALL THE ILLEGALS BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM AND THAT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM!

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