Budget
leaders postpone unveiling
planned cuts in education spending
House
and Senate leaders pulled the plug on a scheduled Thursday
morning meeting of the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on
Education at which the panel was supposed to unveil its
recommended budget cuts for the public schools, community
colleges and state universities. Officials said the 8:30 a.m.
meeting was canceled because other subcommittees were still
working on their budget recommendations, which could affect
funds available for education.
The panel’s scheduled meeting had been widely anticipated
because it was to be the first time education leaders would
get some firm idea how far the General Assembly might go in
implementing $290 million in spending cuts they had been asked
to identify. Three weeks ago budget writers asked the UNC
System and the Department of Public Instruction to each
identify $125 million that could cut from their ongoing
programs. The Department of Community Colleges was asked to
identify $40 million in cuts.
All three agencies reluctantly went along with the requests to
identify cuts. However, the responses came with bleak warnings
about the consequences of reductions of that magnitude.
The Department of Public Instruction released a letter by
State Board of Education Chairman Phil Kirk and state
Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Ward that said the
requested cuts threaten the progress made in education.
"Such reductions run counter to Gov. Easley's promise
that services to children would not suffer as the state went
about the business of identifying sources to balance the
budget," they wrote.
UNC President Molly Broad said if she had to cut $125 million
in spending, the 16 campuses “would be forced to abolish
more than 1,800 positions, including over 700 faculty
positions university-wide." President Martin Lancaster
said the community college system would lose the equivalent of
452 full-time instructors if it had to reduce spending by $40
million. The community colleges also would have to raise $10.2
million by increasing tuition. The State Board of Education
said it would have to cut about 360 classroom and central
office positions. See the April
20 Legislative Bulletin for more detail.
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