NCPTA and PTA members across North Carolina have actively advocated this session for increased teacher compensation, funding for teacher assistants, changes to Read to Achieve, funding for driver education, and funding for school nurses. The House of Representatives heard your voices and these advocacy items have been included in the budget adopted today by the House of Representatives. The House budget:
1. Includes an average 5% raise for teachers;
2. Does not include additional cuts to teacher assistants;
3. Includes Read to Achieve amendments encouraged and supported by NCPTA. These amendments decrease the number of required student reading portfolio examples from 3 examples to 2 examples for each standard and also requires the school principal to hold an information session for parents the first 30 days of school;
4. Restores recurring funding to driver education; and
5. Restores the 29% Senate State funding cut to school nurses that eliminated 70 school nurse positions and transferred the remaining 166 nurses to Tier 1 counties.