Boosts in State-Funded Distance Learning Initiatives
Bring Increased Opportunities to
K-12 and Higher Education

Patrick Sutton

February 23, 2007

In an ambitious push to expand the educational resources of his state, North Carolina’s governor Mike Easley has boosted the education budget by 7.8% to a total allocation of $11.6 billion dollars. Many notable budgetary changes have been made, such as:

• Eliminating the state income tax for almost 600,000 low income individuals
• Provide $150 Million to send more students to college
• 5% pay increase for public school teachers
• Providing pre-k services to 10,000 more students
• Using lottery revenue to fund pre-k education initiatives

In addition, approximately $19 million will be funneled towards the “Learn and Earn”, a distance learning initiative that will allow students from any high school in the state to take college courses over the internet.

By allocating more funding towards improving the states educational infrastructure—k-12, higher education, and online education—, Easley is underscoring the important role the pedagogic system will play in the growth of North Carolina:

“This budget keeps education our Number 1 priority,” Easley said. “My goal is to create a seamless education system that provides opportunities for citizens from pre-K through community college and our universities. Our education system must meet the needs of all our citizens, whether they are just starting out in school or returning to learn new skills to meet the demands of our global economy.”

In addition to allocating over 50% of his budget to education, Easley is also a proponent of performance based spending in education. In 2006 he conducted performance audits on all of the school districts in the state of North Carolina, in order to compare what is working in the high-performing high schools, and to assess the liabilities of lower performing schools. Easley also assessed the way districts are spending money, in order to ensure increased spending yields results.

Although the budget is ambitions compared to what other states may be doing, investing half of a budget in updating the educational infrastructure is far from overzealous.

Easley’s plan is , however,  markedly different from other current educational reforms we’ve been seeing—such as Grindberg’s free tuition bill in North Dakota—in a few ways:

• Easley has allocated more money towards promoting education for the underprivileged
• He is an advocate of performance based education funding
• Easley is pushing North Carolina ahead in the distance learning arena

This initiative is exciting because of the opportunity that it provides to North Carolina’s underprivledged. The combination of performance-based spending in higher education, with distance learning programs that provide opportunity to more students is very exciting. By simultaneously reaching more students, and ensuring that money yields academic results, Easley offering a valuable service to his State.

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-Sources

Robertson, Gary D. and Lillard, Margaret; “Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007, at the North Carolina General Assembly”
MyrtleBeachOnline.com

Staff Writer, “Easley's $20.1B budget ups education spending, cuts income tax for some”, The Triangle Business Journal, February 22, 2007

Office of the Governor, North Carolina, “Gov. Easley Proposes Nation’s Most Ambitions Education Budget”, February 22, 2007

Saine, Jason, “Governor Proposes Nation's Most Ambitious Education Budget” February 22, 2007, The Lincoln Tribune