December 28, 2024

[1]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org
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Grateful Hearts, Determined Voices:

Strengthening Public Schools in 2025

It has been an eventful 2024 in North Carolina. We have seen policies that
harm public education enacted at the NC legislature. We have seen how our
fellow North Carolinians have been devastated by the destruction of
Hurricane Helene and how some legislators prioritized funding private
school vouchers instead of funding more disaster relief.

During all the chaos, with your help, we have defended public education and
fought for adequate funding to help our public schools and help communities
in disaster-affected counties recover and rebuild.

Please accept our deepest gratitude for your support and your personal
advocacy work throughout the year. Together, we have fought back against
bad bills that are undermining public education and North Carolina’s
constitutional promise to provide a free, public education to every
student. Together, we helped give our educators and students a voice.

But we are not done! While there are a lot of uncertainties ahead at the
federal and state levels, we are ready to step up again in January when the
NC General Assembly returns to set a new two-year budget.

It is time for NC public schools to have a budget they deserve! We are
unwavering in our commitment to our public school educators and their
students. We will fight for the resources they need to succeed.

But we will need your help. Please share your time and talents along with a
donation to help Public Schools First NC keep the public informed and
engaged in the fight to protect and strengthen public education.

No matter what 2025 brings, we know that North Carolinians support our
educators and that they will stand up for protecting their public schools.
There’s a lot of work ahead.

Join us!

[7]Donate to Public Schools First NC

YES, Money Matters

The persistent myth in education that money doesn't matter and that
spending more won't lead to better outcomes has had a surprisingly long
life given the amount of research evidence debunking it. Promoted by
anti-public education and pro-charter/voucher operatives, this myth still
holds sway over lawmakers who seek ways to continue underfunding public
education.

Education Law Center's [8]Money Matters report highlights key points in the
research showing that money matters. Below are some excerpts:

1) New research using rigorous methods finds money does matter and
identifies flaws in prior research. Recent studies using rigorous research
methods find that students in states that invest more money in their public
schools have higher test scores, greater educational attainment, and higher
earnings. While money does not eliminate achievement gaps, it can shrink
them.

2) How money is spent matters. Research has identified the importance of
targeting spending on programs and initiatives that improve student
achievement, including high quality early education, prepared and
experienced teachers, social-emotional supports, and community schools.

Funding that is both predictable and flexible allows school districts to
focus spending on the needs of the local community, rather than being
dictated by the state through restricted categorical grants

3) School funding reform and school integration are intertwined. Due to
historical and persistently high levels of racial and economic segregation,
underfunded schools tend to be found in districts with higher segregation
concentration by race and poverty, with white students clustering in
higher-income school districts, and Black and Latino students clustered in
higher poverty schools.

School funding reform efforts cost more in states where there are high
levels of school segregation. In these states, the cost burden of school
reform falls more heavily on the state because of the added costs of
mitigating concentrated poverty and the reduced ability of poor communities
to contribute substantial local funds.

Another Ed. Law Center report titled [9]Investing Additional Resources in
Schools Serving Low-Income Students highlights the educational and career
benefits of investing in low-income school districts.

In one of the most robust research studies available, increases in funding
to low-income districts not only resulted in improved academic outcomes,
but also increases in wages, family income, and reductions in the annual
incidence of adult poverty.

All of these positive outcomes are possible if our state legislators heeded
their constitutional obligation to provide for a free, quality education to
our state's students.

[10]North Carolina now ranks #49 out of 50 in educational funding effort.
Only Arizona ranks lower. But what's as bad as our terrible ranking is how
far below the national average our current spending effort is and how
sharply it has dropped since 2010. In 2010, North Carolina had almost
reached the national average.

([11]link to image)

From 2010 to 2022, North Carolina's GDP (Gross Domestic Product = value of
goods and services = wealth) increased by 73% (from $415 billion to $716
billion), but spending on PK-12 schools increased by only 1% (from $14.693
billion to $14.910 billion)! The failure of lawmakers to share the state's
growing wealth with PK-12 schools has led to its current bottom-level rank.

Select North Carolina [12]here to see interactive charts with GDP and PK-12
revenue by year.

It's not too late to reverse the downward trend. [13]Contact your
legislators and urge them to make 2025 a year for fully funding public
education.

Mo Green on Teacher Pay

As he mounts an effort to raise teacher pay in North Carolina, incoming
State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green knows it will take a team.

In any of the things he will do as state superintendent, he says in the
accompanying video, “I’m not going to be doing them by myself. So this is
going to take, as I like to say, ‘the voices of the many’ to try to
encourage our General Assembly to think differently about how we fund
schools, and in particular, how we pay our educators.”

First, Green says he wants to listen to legislators about why they haven’t
funded public schools better. The state ranks 42nd in starting pay and 38th
in average teacher pay, and it was projected to rank 41st for 2023-24.

To improve teacher pay, the state might need to “peel back” the way it
“piecemeals” teacher pay and take a new approach, he says.

[14]video

Read and listen more at [15]Public Ed Works.

Books for the New Year!

There's still time to get a good book to read over the break and start the
new year off right! Public Schools First NC has a terrific selection of
books we've featured over the years in our webinars and conferences.

When you donate $50 or more to Public Schools First NC, we'll send you your
book choice.

[16]Donate and buy books here.

Have You Missed a Webinar?

If you missed one of our webinars, the winter break is a good time to catch
up. You can watch them [17]HERE (on our website under Events). Below are
the most recent webinars. Watch them all to gain a better understanding of
the history and current dynamics of education in North Carolina.
* The NCPTA and Public Schools First review of the history and impact of
private school vouchers in NC.
* Karey Harwood, author of Why the Battle over Diverse Public Schools
Still Matters
* Derek Black, author of Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the
assault on American Democracy
* Jack Boger and Jane Wettach, Is the NC Supreme Court Poised to Undo
Leandro? Legal Experts Weigh in
* Jon Hale, author of The Choice We Face: How Segregation, Race, and
Power Have Shaped America’s Most Controversial Education Reform Movement
* Legislative Update with Rep. Julie von Haefen

Save the Date!

How to Fight Vouchers in 2025: A Toolkit for Advocates

On Wednesday, January 15, at 2 p.m. ET, representatives from PFPS and
invited guests will share information, resources, tools and tips to support
advocates in preparation for state and federal legislative fights over
private school voucher programs in 2025. More information about the webinar
and a link to register are coming soon!

Words to Remember

"In public schools, students have numerous constitutional rights, including
equal protection, due process, free speech, and both free exercise of
religion and freedom from religion. None of these constitutional
protections apply in private schools." — The School Voucher Illusion, p.81

Help us support public schools!

Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit
focused solely

on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents,
teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina
to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each
child for productive citizenship.

[18]DONATE HERE

[19]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Questions? Contact us today at [email protected]

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