WakeUP Wake County Urges County Commission to Increase School Funding, Keep up with Growth

For Immediate Release
Contact: Karen Rindge, WakeUP Wake County, 828-3833, karen@wakeupwakecounty.org
Date: June 6, 2011

Today, WakeUP Wake County, the citizens' voice for good growth planning and sustainable communities, urged the Wake Board of Commissioners to increase funding for Wake County Public Schools. Speaking at the public hearing on the 2012 budget, WakeUP's Executive Director, Karen Rindge, pointed out that the school budget has been flat-lined for the past three years. Meanwhile, student population has grown by 6,000 children over the past two years. "We need funding to sustain our growing population, and next year's student body will grow by more than 3,000 bringing us to a total of 147,000 students," stated Rindge.

"Supporting public education is a good investment because our school system helps grow the economy and create jobs. Wake County schools are a great bargain because even though Wake spends less per pupil than all other metro areas in the state, our schools are strong," explained Rindge. With coming budget cuts at the state level, North Carolina will rank 49th in the nation in per pupil spending. Teacher assistants are expected to be cut from the budget, following cuts from past years.

WakeUP Wake County has supported alternative ways to support public school funding, such as a real estate transfer tax. Although the NC General Assembly repealed counties' authority for a transfer tax, counties like Dare have the tax and are bringing new revenue into their school system each year.

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