Latest Jobs Report Has No Surprises

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "We know that our public schools are suffering because of job cuts and lay-offs due to the budget adopted by the General Assembly, and the state unemployment report releases today reinforces that our schools are being hardest hit in these difficult times," said NCAE President Sheri Strickland. The North Carolina Employment Security Commission released its latest unemployment numbers which indicate that a majority of the 11,800 jobs lost in local government are in education.

"We know that this will negatively impact the quality of education for our children," Strickland said. "The Republican led- legislature has added to our economic woes by letting public education take a big hit.

"Thousands of educators rallied just a few short months ago at NCAE's "One Voice" rally for appropriate funding for public schools and implored the General Assembly to maintain the one cent sales tax. We know that one penny would have helped the economy, schools and children.

"Our predictions that layoffs would continue and that thousands would lose jobs have landed as fact on our doorstep today. NCAE is now estimating N.C. will drop to 49th in per pupil funding. We'll be beneath Mississippi. Teachers are doing more with less. Class sizes are heading beyond manageable numbers.

"We know that you cannot cut your way to excellent schools, and we won't secure North Carolina's economic prosperity by cutting education. Our Legislature has contributed largely to this report, offering up thousands of public school employees to fill the rolls of the unemployed."

NCAE is the state's largest education association representing nearly 60,000 active, retired and student members in North Carolina.

SOURCE North Carolina Association of Educators