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Published in the Dunn Daily Record in Dunn, North Carolina, in 2009
MARY-DEAN BARRINGER
Different people react to crises in different ways. Some people panic, and others freeze. Others - the ones we want to be with when a crisis occurs - take full measure of the situation quickly, and they set about immediately to manage the situation, always mindful to not, by their own actions, make the situation worse.
It is that standard by which history will judge us North Carolinians and our elected leaders in terms of the state's current budget crisis.
In no area will our response be tested more seriously or judged more critically than in education, for how we treat today's students will determine not only their future, but ours, as well.
The North Carolina General Assembly has before it proposals that could, if enacted unchanged, devastate public education in our state for years to come, long after the current emergency has passed. We are being told to prepare for the loss of thousands of teaching jobs and commensurate increases in class size. The school year will be shortened, and kids' education short-changed as a result.
We will be asking fewer teachers to produce greater results, while at the same time denying them opportunities to increase their capacity through the acquisition of new knowledge, and new skills, especially knowledge and skills that are designed to address the chronic underperformance of North Carolina's most vulnerable learners. This is wrong in terms of social ethics, but also in terms of fiscal responsibility.
We know from research that 20 percent of all students struggle to learn. Some of these students need and receive special help because of a specific learning disability, but many others struggle unnecessarily, simply because they learn differently - their brains just aren't "wired" the way their classmates' are.
We also know that North Carolina spends, on average, a bit under $8,000 per student, per year (well below the national average of $10,000 per year, it is worth noting). In any case, a North Carolina classroom that has 30 students requires an investment of about $250,000 per year. With 20 percent of the students at serious risk of failure, that means about $50,000 per classroom per year could well be wasted if the teacher is unable to identify and to reach those struggling learners.
While no segment of our economy has escaped the ravages of the current world-wide recession, the nonprofit sector has been especially hard hit. We have seen reductions in income from government, foundations and earned revenues. And that has happened even as demands for our services have increased. We recognize that these are unprecedented times, times that call for sacrifice, and not-for-profits - like everyone else - must do more with less. But the simple fact of the matter is that we can't do more with nothing.
If our legislature follows the House's initial budget recommendations, it will be delivering a triple whammy to nonprofits that provide support to teachers. By zeroing them out of legislative funding, by cutting professional development funding in school budgets, and by not working with the governor to take advantage of federal stimulus dollars for this purpose, the General Assembly will be responding to a crisis by making it worse. That will be an unfortunate legacy for this legislature and for this generation of North Carolina's children. Certainly we can do better than that.
Mary-Dean Barringer is the CEO of All Kinds of Minds, a not-for-profit institute based in Durham.
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