State Senate Democrats focused their criticism on the education portion of the Senate spending plan drawn up by Republican leaders. The debate in the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday targeted raises for state employees versus letting local school districts decide if their teachers deserve raises. Under the Senate budget non-teaching state employees would receive a one point two percent raise. The plan would allot 84 million dollars to school districts and let administrators decide if teachers would get merit raises or use the funds for other purposes. Senator Martin Nesbitt (D- Asheville) said that would penalize teachers…
Senator Jerry Tillman (R-Randolph) said the Democrats would just go back to paying everyone the same without rewarding those who stood out…
For years when the Democrats controlled the General Assembly state employees complained that teachers were getting bigger raises as the state raced to reach the national average for teacher pay.
The House budget called for a one-time bonus of $250 for all state employees.
The budget passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee was just the Senate’s idea for a budget. It is common practice for both chambers to offer different versions so the areas in conflict can be worked out in a conference committee. That’s what will happen when the Senate plan gets back to the House this week.
[…] Read the complete story at Civitas […]