Governor Perdue unveiled her 2012-13 budget recommendations this morning. The budget recommends a .75 cent sales tax increase and directs most of the resulting revenue to K-12 public education. State spending on K-12 would increase by $562.2 million over the certified budget passed by the General Assembly, a 7.6% increase. Here are some highlights:
- Complete elimination of the $503 million LEA adjustment (discretionary cut) that LEAs are currently
scheduled to take; - $92.9 million for reduction of class sizes by 1 in kindergarten and grades 1-3;
- Funding to allow salary step increases for certified employees and 1.8% salary increases for noncertified personnel;
- Restoration of $9.2 million recurring appropriation for teacher mentoring;
- Elimination of 10th grade writing test;
- $7.5 million for the new diagnostic assessments that will be administered as part of the ACRE reform- EXPLORE, PLAN, ACT, WORKKEYS;
- $25 million increase to NC Pre-K funding.
The budget documents estimate that eliminating the LEA adjustment and increasing K-3 class sizes will allow for 11,471 public school personnel to be retained/added in 2012-13.
Attached please find a line-item breakdown of all the Governor’s recommended expansions and reductions in education. The General Assembly will begin the 2012 short session next Wednesday, May 16 and begin rolling out their budget proposals quickly thereafter.
Attachment
