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What Matters Most to You?

A multitude of issues challenge our public schools. Please help Public Schools First NC understand your priorities by selecting the top 5 issues you think we should focus on when the NC General Assembly convenes its legislative long session on January 9, 2019. You may also suggest additional issues in the comment box.
- Increase funding to hire more helping professionals (school psychologists, social workers, counselors, and nurses) to meet nationally recommended ratios. Schools need these staff to meet the social, emotional and mental health needs of students.
- Fully fund the class size mandates for grades K-3 including additional personnel and capital funding.
- Give local school boards a waiver for K-3 class size requirements if local boards can show that space is not available and/or show that needed certified teachers are not available to meet the class size mandate.
- Increase funding for school construction and put a statewide school construction bond on the 2020 ballot.
- Give local school districts school calendar flexibility to best meet the needs of their school communities.
- Fix principal pay to include years of experience to determine principal pay.
- Increase teacher pay for all teachers to at least the national average; especially offer veteran teachers an increase to recognize their skills and experience.
- Reinstate supplements for teachers who earn advanced degrees.
- Implement universal Pre-K for all eligible children.
- Increase per pupil funding, including adequate funding for both textbooks and technology.
- Provide funding for each school to have at least one School Resource Officer and fund training and education specific to working with K-12 students for these positions.
- Reinstate the sales tax refund process to allow local school boards to directly receive a state sales tax refund like other government agencies.
- Provide additional funding to restore class size caps for grades 4-5.
- Restore full-time teacher assistants in each classroom for grades K-3.
- Eliminate the A-F grading system or improve it to count student growth 50% and keep the 15-point scale for A-F school grades.
- Discontinue the Innovative School District and allow local school boards to work directly with NCDPI when schools are persistently low-performing.
- Protect and restore local school board control over their public schools.
- Hold virtual charter schools more accountable and allow State Board of Education to close them when students are not academically succeeding.
- Increase mentoring support and professional development, especially for new teachers.
- Improve policies to attract and retain qualified and certified teachers.
- Establish a moratorium on school vouchers to private schools.
- Require private schools receiving vouchers to use a nationally-normed test for students receiving vouchers to demonstrate student performance, similar to public school accountability.
- Monitor the implementation/results of Personal Education Savings Accounts.
- Increase charter school accountability and transparency.
- Allow local school boards to have the flexibility of charter schools and authority to establish and govern new or existing charter schools (similar to magnet schools).
- Eliminate state pension changes that transfer pension liabilities to local school districts in an unfair manner.
- Boost professional pay and benefits to support staff, such as child nutrition and transportation employees.
- Keep guns off school grounds and out of classrooms including not arming teachers in our schools (does not include trained and licensed resource officers).
- Increase funding for school security as determined by local school districts.
- Monitor Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform.
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Be on the lookout for our legislative updates when the NC General Assembly reconvenes on January 9, 2019. We will need your help in advocating for the public schools our students deserve.