Agenda - 06-07-2016 - 5-a - Minutes

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6 1 Whereas, state and federal elected politicians have failed to follow constitutional and statutory 2 mandates to fully fund public education and public school teachers and disregarded poverty 3 among our public school children; and 4 5 Whereas, inflation-adjusted per pupil spending is still below pre-recession levels; and 6 7 Whereas, the national average for school funding per student is $11,841; and 8 9 Whereas, in terms of per pupil spending, a National Education Agency report ranks North 10 Carolina 46th in the United States in 2014-15, spending $8,632 per student, compared to 11 $8,620 per student in 2013-14; and 12 13 Whereas, in 2008, North Carolina teacher salaries ranked 25th in the nation but had fallen to 14 46th in 2014-15; and 15 16 Whereas, that despite research showing cost—effectiveness of Pre-K services, the North 17 Carolina General Assembly has cut funding and reduced the number of state-funded pre- 18 kindergarten seats by 5,400 since 2008 resulting in continued waiting lists; and 19 20 Whereas, approximately 60 percent of public education funding comes from the state, while the 21 remainder is funded at the local level and by the federal government; and 22 23 Whereas, as the state has abandoned its Constitutional obligation to fund our public schools 24 forcing many local government leaders to shoulder more of the burden by increasing property 25 taxes or cutting important programs or positions; 26 27 Now Therefore, be it resolved that: 28 ➢ The Orange County Board of Commissioners calls for the N.C. General Assembly to 29 fully fund public education in Local Education Agencies to reflect growth and student 30 needs; and 31 ➢ The Orange County Board of Commissioners calls upon the General Assembly to 32 reinstate K-12 enrollment growth (ADM funding) as part of the continuation budget; and 33 ➢ The Orange County Board of Commissioners calls upon the legislators of both parties to 34 reject the trend toward shifting education spending to counties; and 35 ➢ The Orange County Board of Commissioners calls upon the General Assembly to raise 36 additional state revenue in an equitable fashion in order to avoid regressive tax shifts to 37 counties. 38 39 Approved this the 5th day of May 2016. 40 41 A motion was made by Commissioner Rich, seconded by Commissioner Price for the 42 Board to approve and authorized the Chair to sign the attached resolution. 43 44 VOTE: 6-0 (Commissioner Pelissier absent) 45 46 47 c. March 15, 2016 Primary Election Report 48 The Board received a presentation with updates on items of interest from the March 15, 49 2016 Election. 50 Tracy Reams, Board of Elections (BOE) Director, reviewed her report: