The legislature continues to work, and we have seen some bills that impact our state’s educators. On the budget front, we are not seeing the legislature create a traditional budget. It appears that the budget matters being considered are quite selective and are being placed in a myriad of bills. The following items are the bills impacting educators.
House Bill :1225 H1225
The House Speaker, Tim Moore, is proposing a 3.1 billion-dollar bond for the state. The bill includes 800 million dollars for K-12 school capital needs. PENC certainly had advocated for a bond, but we wish the amount for our public schools were more. Although 800 million dollars will help, it is only a small step toward meeting our capital needs.
Senate Bill: 818 S818
Senate Bill 818 impacts teacher salaries by updating the salary schedule for teachers to put them on their appropriate step. Secondly, the bill provided a $350 bonus for teachers. Finally, the bill encourages the governor to allocate funds from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund to provide a one-time bonus of $600 to teachers, instructional support staff, and non-certified personnel.
Although educators certainly deserve more money, PENC feels that these amounts are dismal and insufficient considering we were the only class of state employees that received no raise last year. We wish our elected officials would demonstrate more value for our state’s educators and those who support them!