teachers

The NC General Assembly should create two permanent commissions charged with raising the quality and rigor of state standards, curricula, and assessments. Each commission should employ a large and diverse group of stakeholders and should modify or replace the Common Core State Standards, specify content that aligns with the standards, recommend a testing program, and provide ongoing review.

This report highlights eleven action items that North Carolina’s new General Assembly should seek to implement in the first 100 days of the 2011 legislative session. These items touch upon a cross section of public policy areas, including education, economic development, property rights, energy and the environment, health care, the budget, and transparency. We at the John Locke Foundation believe that these items represent straightforward actions that would greatly enhance the liberty and prosperity of North Carolina’s citizens.

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s public schools have added administrators, consultants, and other nonclassroom staffers faster than they’ve added students this decade. That’s a key finding in a new John Locke…

North Carolina’s public schools continue to add administrative, non-instructional, and instructional support positions at rates that far exceed enrollment growth. Since 2000, North Carolina’s public school student enrollment (Average Daily Membership) has increased by approximately 13 percent, while school personnel has increased by nearly 18 percent. North Carolina’s pupil/staff ratio decreased from nearly 8:1 in 2003 to just over 7:1 in 2006.

Adjusted for cost of living, pension contribution, and teacher experience, the state’s average teacher salary is $993 higher than the U.S. adjusted median salary and $2,733 higher than the U.S. adjusted average salary. There is little evidence that a higher average salary or better benefits will, in any significant way, improve recruitment and increase retention of teachers. A system of merit-based pay would provide an incentive for highly qualified individuals to enter and stay in the teaching profession.

RALEIGH – The average North Carolina teacher already earns $2,700 more each year than her average peers across the country, once their pay is adjusted for cost of living and…

Neither enrollment increases nor federal and state mandates can account for the 19 percent increase in school personnel over the last eight years. The glut of public school personnel hiring is evident in counties that have a declining student population. Despite losing nearly 10,000 students in eight years, these school districts added 819 employees. This shows that school districts actively maintain their bureaucracy even as the amount of work declines.

RALEIGH – In the last eight years, North Carolina public schools have increased in personnel by 19 percent, a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight shows. Even school districts that are…

HSAs are a form of medical savings account, similar to the now-familiar IRAs. These accounts are the property of the employee and can accumulate interest and dividends like other savings vehicles. Funds that are not used for health care-related expenses can be used for retirement living and can also be willed to one’s heirs. When combined with a high-deductible health insurance policy, an HSA replaces traditional health insurance coverage – and does so in a way that results in a more consumer-driven approach to health care.

RALEIGH – Two years ago President George W. Bush signed legislation that made tax-free “health savings accounts” possible. With many private businesses embracing HSAs as an alternative to traditional insurance…