Dr. Bill Nolte, Associate Superintendent of Haywood County Schools

You young folks are probably thinking, “What is a check register? Well, back in the good ole days most people had a checking account at the local bank. They hand delivered and deposited their paycheck. Then, they used an ole-fashion, hand-written check register to keep track of their deposits, debits (checks) and the account balance. Things have really changed. Today, most people rarely write checks or handle large amounts of cash. Most transactions are conducted electronically with a debit card, automatic payment system or through online banking.

With all of these changes, one thing remains constant. Value is expressed through the percentage of our spending. Notice I said “percentage” of spending not “amount.” In the good ole days, my parents and other wise people would say, “If you want to check your values, just look at your check register.” This expression conveys the notion that we spend the greatest percentage of our budget on the things that we value the most. In most households the greatest percentage of spending is on the mortgage or rent or food or reliable transportation or even charitable contributions.

What in the world does this have to do with public schools? Well, our state is systematically devaluing public education. To prove this, all we have to do is look at the check register (percentage of the total budget spent on public education). The following information (Highlights of the NC Public School Budget, February, 2014) represents the percentage of the state budget spent on public education:
1989-1990 45.5%
1999-2000 40.9%
2009-2010 39.2%
2013-2014 37.3% (last available year)

Today, no reasonable person would expect public schools to receive 52.5% of the state budget like they did back in 1969-1970. However, most reasonable people would ask, “Why are public schools receiving less and less of the overall state budget (especially when the number of students and schools is significantly increasing)?” Or, “Where is most of the state money going?” Most of the state budget is not going to educate our children.

Most of the state budget is also NOT going to fund charter schools. This should be a news flash for our charter school friends. Charter school funding is part of the decreasing percentage spent on all public schools. At least the charters can avoid all of those costly and often ridiculous regulations. If an elected state official is reading this, when will all public schools have the freedom to avoid costly and unnecessary regulations? If freedom from regulations is more efficient and saves money, let’s give all of our schools regulatory freedom and let’s do it now!