“North Carolina should put a school bond to a vote so the people can decide whether to fix our old schools and build new ones. Skimming money that should go to teacher pay raises and other school funding is like using your gas money to buy a car. A successful school bond is a smarter way to do business because it locks down financing now and still leaves funding to get good teachers and principals in the classrooms.”
North Carolina schools from kindergarten through high school need at least $8 billion in new construction and renovations. The Governor, the state House Speaker and a bipartisan majority of the House support a bond for K-12 public school construction.
The Senate Rules Committee today voted for a proposal to fund school construction and renovation out of the State Capitol and Infrastructure Fund (SCIF) rather than through a school bond put to a vote of the people. Funding school construction through the SCIF siphons funds from other budget needs, like improving school safety, raising teacher salaries, or purchasing textbooks and other instructional supplies, at a time when the bond market is robust and the state can borrow at relatively low interest rates to meet the construction needs of communities and schools.
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