CHARLOTTE,NC – Teacher assistants and their supporters rallied Sunday, hoping for answers from Raleigh about their future.
“It’s hard for you to wake up and not know if you’re going to have a job,” explains Cleveland County teacher assistant Sandy Borders.
Borders is one of 8500 in North Carolina worried their positions could be cut in the state’s final budget.
That budget was supposed to be passed July 1st.
“That’s very heartfelt to hear someone’s job. Their family and everything and they don’t have any kind of income coming in. It’s going to be rough,” Borders says.
For now, TA jobs are funded through September 4th. But some lawmakers have proposed cutting teacher assistants to hire more full time teachers.
State Senator and former CMS Board Member Joyce Waddell disagrees. “I think we can do both,” she explains.
She says she’s disappointed with the uncertainty caused by schools opening without a state budget.
“I think we owe it to our students. We owe it to the teachers. We owe it to the teacher assistants, to let them know what the budget will be, to let them know the expectations,” Waddell says.
CMS Superintendent Ann Clark hopes to have more clarity by the end of the month. She’s also looking to see if money in the budget can be moved around to keep TA jobs.
“To be operating on a week by week basis is not a good way to run a business or retain our talented teacher assistants, who at some point need to make decisions about their own future,” Clark says.
