As an elementary-school foreign-language teacher, Leah O'Neal is one of the people who could lose her job if the state continues to cut money for local schools.
"The most important issue facing North Carolina educators is budget cuts," said O'Neal, who teaches Spanish at Whitaker Elementary School. "Ultimately when we cut, students are hurt."
O'Neal has been teaching for 27 years in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County school system and is a semifinalist for the school system's teacher of the year. Yesterday, she was among the 1,000 delegates to the 40th annual N.C. Association of Educators convention in Winston-Salem talking about the need for the state legislature to not only make no more cuts in money for education but also to restore money already cut.
More than $400 million in state cuts to local schools are already planned for the 2010-11 school year, and the NCAE has made lobbying legislators a priority.
David Beaver, who teaches history at South Davidson High School, said that the cuts are already too deep.
"We can't accept any further cuts -- we can't," Beaver said.
The association is planning a rally in Raleigh for May 8 -- the Saturday before the General Assembly convenes on May 12 -- and is urging parents and other members of the wider community to join them. Yesterday, delegates were given postcards -- urging the restoration of slashed funds -- to send to legislators representing their home districts.
Terry Zimmerman, who teaches at Southwest Elementary school, said that there was a sense of unity among delegates about what needs to be done.
"We're together -- we're united," Zimmerman said. "Budget cuts are a major concern for all."
The cuts have already created situations, Zimmerman and others said, in which teachers have more than 30 students in a class and are working with inadequate materials and inadequate support.
So far, the local school system has been able to absorb the state cuts without laying off people. School officials are working on a budget for the 2010-11 school year that would also avoid layoffs while absorbing $5.2 million in cuts and increased costs for retirement and health insurance. But, in talking about a RIF (reduction-in-force) policy should cuts become necessary in coming years, eliminating the foreign-language program at elementary schools has been mentioned as a possible cut.
O'Neal said that she thinks it would be a mistake because the earlier a child starts learning a foreign language, the better his chances of mastering it.
"I know that there are a lot of needs as far as money goes," she said.
Delegates were also fretting about other potential consequences of cuts. Paul Luper, who works in maintenance for the school system, is worried that the school system could farm out custodial services and maintenance.
"We're concerned as classified people about private industry taking over," Luper said.
When that has happened, he said, he has heard of instances in which workers didn't do such necessary things as change light bulbs and put down salt on snow-covered walks because that wasn't included in the contract.
Forsyth delegates made a point to praise the efforts of Superintendent Don Martin and Kerry Crutchfield, the school system's finance director, in dealing with the budget gaps caused by the state cuts.
"We have a great working relationship," said Denise McCoy, the home-school-community liaison at Konnoak Elementary School and a candidate for president of the association's Education Support Personnel (ESP). "A lot of counties can't say that."
Yesterday, convention delegates passed a resolution in support of not connecting any of a teacher's compensation to student tests. Meredith Light, who teaches English at Brevard High School, said that tying compensation to "one test on one day" is not fair given that so many factors -- including parental involvement, the home environment and a student's own choices -- are beyond a teacher's control.
The delegates also passed a resolution urging legislators to give local school's more flexibility in setting the starting date for the school year. The Aug. 25 start date, passed after lobbying by the tourism industry to ensure a longer summer break, creates such problems as high schools not being able to schedule exams until after the winter break.
kunderwood@wsjournal.com
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