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Pat Chancer is a third grade teacher at McDougle Elementary School and also an Orange County taxpayer and a parent. She is representing several teachers that had other commitments. She urged the County Commissioners to increase the educational budget or fill it as much as possible. She is concerned about the fulltime teaching positions in K-3. This is her 33~d year of teaching and she said that the children have not changed, but the way the educational system is set up and the expectations for each child to succeed has changed. The pressure to make sure that each child makes significant growth points in a given amount of time is enormous. Times have changed and the classrooms are very diverse academically, socially, culturally, and emotionally. The only way to meet the need is to teach in small groups. This can only be continued with the help of fulltime assistants, like the one she currently has. She said that lowering the class size and then taking away the fulltime assistants gives the children less attention. It is not the same when the assistants have to travel room to room part time and do not get to know the students. She said that North Carolina needs 10,000 new teachers every year and only graduates 2,500. She asked the Board to support the educational budget. Nancy Bierman said that she requests that the Board fully fund Superintendent Neil Pedersen's budget. One of his goals is to have fulltime teacher assistants in grades K-3. Without enough money, this will not be possible. She is a third grade Teacher Assistant (TA) at McDougle Elementary with Pat Chancer. She said that if being a TA only involves such tasks as correcting papers and using the copier, she would have left years ago. The special part of her job is getting to know the kids in the class and contributing to their education. She said that she plays a significant role in achieving much needed differentiation in the classroom. While the teacher is leading a whole group lesson, she can sit with children who need a helping hand. She said that pushing paper far a living couldn't begin to compare to this. She said that many TAs have discussed resigning rather than returning in August, perhaps to find that their job description has been altered. If she will be split between two or more classes, she will only escort children to specials, lunch, and recess; do double the copying, record keeping, and correcting that she does now; and have little meaningful contact with the children. She asked the County Commissioners to increase the proposed funding of Dr. Pederson's budget so that K-3 classroom assistants are not sacrificed. She said that assistants are a bargain and they should not be passed up. Michael Cureton is with the CASS office at CHCCS. He distributed a handout. CASS stands for Community Alliance for Student Success. The program was started to help parents be more involved in their children's education. There is a community board of parents and faculty representatives. He said that parent involvement is key to children succeeding in school. CHCCS has funded ahalf-time position to encourage parents to be more involved in their children's education. This program also has great potential for collaboration with Orange County Schools. The budget is $14,000. He is also the coordinator far Connect A School Hame Loaner Program. This is designed to make sure that every student in CHCCS has a computer and also has free Internet access. They have written grants to get the Internet service providers for parents. He understands the County Commissioners' position, but he hopes there is some way to make sure that this budget gets funded. Caroline Lindsey read a prepared statement. She is a member and mentor in the Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocacy (BRMA) program for six years. The money made available to this program by the CHCCS has made a big difference in the girl that she mentors and