NYC Choosing Between Teacher Layoffs or Withholding Pay. That’s Not Happening Here, and There’s a Reason.

Raleigh, N.C. — According to the Wall Street Journal, New York City leaders are contemplating whether to fire teachers or withhold pay because of the COVID-19 recession: “New York City can’t afford to pay a lump sum due its teachers because of the new coronavirus.”

That’s not happening in North Carolina, and there’s for a reason. Republicans spent the past decade preparing for this recession by methodical and thoughtful budgeting.

Senator Todd Johnson (R-Union) said, “I don’t expect the partisans to go back and retract their attacks on Republican budget policies. But hopefully, the reasonable people out there will compare the mayhem in New York City to the stability in North Carolina and tip their hat to the thoughtful, methodical approach Republicans have taken to budgeting. While New York is withholding teacher pay and considering layoffs, North Carolina funded yet another planned raise and a bonus.”

Over the past decade, Republicans saved money, despite political attacks from Gov. Roy Cooper and other Democrats who wanted to spend it all.

Republicans systematically increased teacher pay and education funding, bringing North Carolina’s average teacher salary to №2 in the Southeast and upping the per-student K-12 budget by $1,748 per student.

And this despite cries from Democrats and their allies in the far-left NCAE for a return to the roller coaster-style budgeting that doomed Democrats in the last recession.

Republicans refused spend now, pray later budget gimmicks like the one Gov. Cooper proposed just this year to blow through nearly $500 million that might not even exist.

The Republican record is clear, even if it’s not talked about enough: Republicans raised teacher pay, increased education funding, and generated billions of dollars in surpluses…all while cutting taxes.

Compare that to the chaos in New York and decide which path you prefer.

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