This week, Governor Roy Cooper delivered supplies collected from the inaugural Governor’s School Supply Drive to schools in Charlotte and Goldsboro to help address unmet classroom needs in North Carolina. Governor Cooper delivered supplies to Shamrock Gardens Elementary School in Charlotte and Carver Heights Elementary School in Goldsboro.
Click here to see coverage from Gov. Cooper’s visit to Charlotte.
“This school supply drive not only helped bring supplies to schools that need them most, but also highlighted the fact that we need to invest more in our public schools and our students,” Gov. Cooper said. “It’s my hope that this supply drive is one day unnecessary, but until then I encourage North Carolinians to help fill that gap by donating classroom supplies.”
Governor Cooper’s School Supply Drive ran from August 14 to September 8, 2017. The drive was offered in partnership among the North Carolina Governor’s Office, the North Carolina Business Committee for Education, State Employees Credit Union, and Communities In Schools of North Carolina.
Communities In Schools of North Carolina chapters and AmeriCorps volunteers will continue to distribute the supplies to school classrooms across the state.
On average, teachers spend about $500 of their own money on supplies for their classrooms each year, and state funding for school supplies has been cut in half since 2008. In March, Gov. Cooper announced his budget proposal, Common Ground Solutions for North Carolina, which called for a $150 annual supply stipend for all North Carolina public school teachers to help offset the cost of purchasing supplies. The teacher supply stipend was not included in the budget passed by the North Carolina General Assembly.
Donation bins were available in state government buildings in Raleigh, businesses that partner with the North Carolina Business Committee on Education, and all SECU branch buildings across North Carolina.