House, Senate budget restores some state funding, schools will still take a hit

Details of the compromise $20.18 billion budget agreement were made public Wednesday, and the Republican leadership was quick to tout that its spending plan restores $251 million in recurring state dollars to K-12 public education.

But not mentioned in their release is that North Carolina will lose $258 million in expiring federal Edujobs money this year, and local school district still face $74 million in scheduled state cuts.

Factor those numbers into today’s budget agreement and that translates into an $81 million overall cut for K-12,  on top of last year’s steep budget cuts.

Funding for the nationally-recognized NC Teaching Fellows program was not included in the compromise budget. Instead budget writers have earmarked $27 million in funding for Senator Berger’s education reform program.

For public school teachers and state employees, the budget does include a 1.2 percent pay raise.

House Speaker Thom Tillis calls the spending plan “a consensus budget that builds on the conservative framework of last year’s agreement.”

We’ll have more reaction to the  budget compromise throughout the day. Stay tuned…