Somebody in Raleigh doesn’t much like Guilford County, in fact a whole bunch of folks must not like Guilford County judging from House Bill 241 which if passed would put a referendum for a $1.9 billion bond for statewide education construction on the ballot in 2020, but wouldn’t do much for Guilford County.
According to the bill $1.5 billion would be divided up amongst the 115 public school districts in the state, $200 million would go to community colleges and $200 million to the university system.
The bill lists the amount each public school system in the state would receive of the $1.5 billion. The amount is based on a formula that takes into account the size of the school district, the growth rate and the economic condition of the area.
The formula is supposed to be weighted in favor of low wealth counties that don’t have the tax revenue available to maintain and build schools.
But the big winner in the whole bond package is the largest and one of the richest school districts in the state. Wake County with 157,000 students would receive $109.6 million far surpassing the second largest school district Mecklenburg with 146,000 students which would receive $61.8 million.
But the big loser in this proposed bond package is number three. Guilford County, the third largest school district in the state with 73,000 students would receive a mere $12.6 million or almost $100 million less than Wake.
Guilford is a Tier 2 county according to the state while both Wake and Mecklenburg are in Tier 3 which means from an economic standpoint both of those counties are much better off than Guilford, but according to this bond formula Guilford either doesn’t need or doesn’t deserve much money.
It’s not just Wake and Mecklenburg that get a lot more money per pupil than Guilford. If you look at the neighboring counties Guilford fairs far worse than most on a per pupil basis. Alamance with 23,000 students gets $16.3 million. Davie with 6,000 students gets $10 million. Davidson with 19,000 students gets $14 million. Randolph with 17,000 students gets $20 million. Rockingham with 12,000 students gets $14.3 million. And Forsyth with 54,000 students gets $10 million.
Forsyth is the only county even close to Guilford in per pupil allocation and it still will receive more per pupil than Guilford.
It actually appears from looking at the entire list of school systems that the formula was devised to give Guilford County Schools the lowest per pupil allocation in the state. Maybe it’s not the lowest but it’s got to be close.
Wake is a little more than twice the size of Guilford, yet it is receiving over eight times as much money. Mecklenburg is almost exactly twice the size of Guilford but it is receiving five times as much money.
The school construction bond bill is a long way from being passed, because the Republican leadership in the state Senate is currently opposed to it.
The battle in Raleigh during this legislative session was supposed to be between Governor Roy Cooper and the Republican majorities in the state House and Senate. In the last election the Democrats won enough seats in both chambers, so that the Republicans don’t have veto proof majorities in either.
But as it looks like there is going to be a big fight between the Republicans in the House supported by Cooper and the Republicans in the Senate over school construction funding.
Republican state House Speaker Tim Moore and Cooper are in favor of a statewide school bond referendum. The Republicans in the state Senate are opposed to the bond and want to pay for school construction out of pocket. The Republican Senate leadership is arguing that with the current budget surpluses the state can provide $6 billion over a ten year period which provides more revenue and no money would be spent on interest payments.
Certainly the Republicans and the Democrats in the Guilford County Legislative Delegation should unite to fight this school construction bond bill, under the current formula.
A study recently completed for Guilford County Schools identified $1.5 billion in construction needs. For the state to officer $12.6 million to help with that goes beyond being unfair, it’s insulting.
And if you are surprised by this you obviously don’t research the candidate and just vote party. I’ve always asked why we give our tax money to various government entities just so they can give back less then they took. Oh, I forgot, government knows best how to redistribute MY money. Silly me.
Where does it end? Our schools are an endless money pit always looking for a handout. You have a top heavy administration that is practically useless, the quality of education has seriously declined over the past few decades, and school safety concerns border on absurd. Another local news outlet juat did a review of ballistic backpacks and backpack inserts that they say may save a life during a school shooting. The answer is not found in a backpack. You have to have citizens who have morals and values so that the words school and shooting are never together in the same sentence unless its to describe a sporting event.
Homeschooling is becoming more popular for good reason. Raise your own kids, teach them morals & values that matter. Anyone can do it, think outside the box! Don’t say I can’t do that because ________. If you’re serious about your kids change your lifestyle so you can. Life is not about appearances or keeping up with the Jones’. It is perfectly okay to downsize & live a more modest lifestyle if it helps our society as a whole by producing respectful individuals with a real work ethic & some morals rather than the troubled and/or triggered generation of today.
Stop blaming Raleigh for the conditions of Guilford County schools. The superintendent is the one who is suppose to make sure that the students have a quality and safe place to learn. Anything less is reason to replace the person in charge of our schools. Parents should demand better leadership. Guilford County schools were always number one in all the years before the present superintendent was hired. Lets make a change NOW!!!!!!
The superintendent is not the problem. He is just a highly paid employee of the school board, and is charged with implementing their failed policies. As long as we keep the same school board, we will have the same worthless policies and get the same failed results.
The fact is that the school system is a mess, not just the buildings. The system for years has wasted tax dollars and why is it cheaper to send a child to private school. The reason the private schools are cheaper is they don’t waste money because they know they have limited funds.
I will vote no for bonds because I am tired of my tax dollars being wasted.
The secret is out on how this superintendent wastes money and how the majority on this school board cheers her on.
This is a math test question for the Rhino Times: From a 1.9 billion dollar bond issue, how does the community college system get 200 billion of those 1.9 billion dollars?
That should be $200 million. Thanks for pointing it out.