John Hinnant is the Chair of the New Hanover County Republican Party and a member of the school district’s finance committee. At a recent meeting, he recalled asking Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes whether the district had a lobbyist.
“And he says, ‘Well, we use the Association of School Boards. And I said, ‘Well, how's that going for you?’ And the resonation around the room was not too good. And I just off the cuff said, ‘You need to be your own voice,'" he said.
So, on April 8, Hinnant, along with students, educators, school board members, and representatives of the finance committee, traveled to Raleigh. They focused on the state allotment formula, which dictates how many staff the General Assembly will fund based on the number of students. Barnes has repeatedly discussed how this formula has not changed in over a decade.
“And so it was real powerful allowing our principals and our teachers and, more importantly, our students to advocate for modernizing the allotment formula, I think, had an impact on our visit. [...] And while we did not win anything, we planted some seeds,” he said.
For example, the state only gives one assistant principal position per 985 students. For K-5 enhancement teachers (art, music, and physical education teachers), it’s one position per 191 students.
Hinnant added that legislators he and the group spoke with were open to piloting a potential new allotment formula allocating more staff in schools, but the district would have to track how additional people impact things like student growth metrics and graduation rates. Hinnant called it an accountability model that could be followed on a public dashboard.
Elizabeth Nelson, a former public educator of 13 years, is now an organizer for the North Carolina American Federation of Teachers. She recently went to Raleigh to advocate for state employees' collective bargaining rights. She said educators need more negotiating power to fix some of the problems with teacher pay and school staffing levels.
“We are the kind of people who like to play by the rules and make sure that we are doing our job and doing it well, and that's what we're focused on. You are allowed to be a part of a union. Our state constitution outlines that you can be a part of one,” she said.
Nelson added that she’d like North Carolina to follow the example of Virginia, which passed a law in 2020 to allow this type of bargaining. One reason, she said, is that educators are consistently asked to do more with less.
“They're dealing with wearing a million hats in their classrooms. They are becoming nurses in their classrooms. They're becoming therapists in their classrooms. They're becoming caretakers. They're feeding their children. They're doing all of these things because funding is no longer provided to do these things. [...] And so teachers are rather than saying, ‘Oh, well,’ they're shouldering it, and they're working through it, and it's burning our teachers out,” she said.
Nelson left teaching in October and said she experienced some of these cuts firsthand.
“I went from having 15 to having 24 kids this year. And then, as far as having an instructional assistant, we lost some of our instructional assistant positions because of the lack of funding. And so I went from having an instructional assistant for about a third of the school day to having her for not even 30 minutes,” she said.
Lindsay Noble is approaching her 24th year in teaching. She went with a group of educators from the North Carolina Association of Educators, mainly with those of the New Hanover County chapter. She said she told legislators that while her heart is still in the profession, it’s wearing on her.
“We're feeling beat down, and we're feeling exploited. We're feeling unappreciated, underpaid, targeted, and not supported. And I gave them a little indication of what it was like to come into my classroom and see 37 bodies sitting there, two out of the three class periods of the day,” she said.
Noble also wanted to draw attention to a bill in the legislature that would remove the caps on K-3 classrooms, the last grade levels that limit the number of students in one class. The bill also allows schools to hire unlicensed teachers.
Nelson and Noble listed several reasons for public education not having enough money, one was the legislature’s decision to invest significantly in private school vouchers, which amounts to billions in state money over the next decade. They also feel that New Hanover County and the state are doing well economically, so why not invest in public schools? They’re also upset with the drop in national rankings for teacher pay.
Nelson, too, raised the issue of the legislature continuing not to fund the full amount of the court-mandated Leandro case, which would primarily benefit rural school districts.
Teacher pay proposals, proposed bills
Governor Stein has proposed a nearly 11% average pay increase over two years for teachers, which includes restoring Master’s pay. The Senate is proposing a 3% increase over the biennium. Noble said that while the Governor’s budget isn’t perfect, especially its freeze in pay for years 15-24 (also a feature in the Senate budget), it’s a step in the right direction.
She’s less upbeat about the Senate’s budget.
“They're a joke. I mean, that's not even enough to keep up with inflation,” she said.
Noble said she would like legislators to listen more to people like her.
“I really wish they would get more feedback from us, from the people that are in the trenches that are working with these kids every single day,” she said.
Stein recently announced an executive order to create a new Teacher Advisory Committee of 17 educators. One of those is Hannah Moon, the Southeastern Regional Teacher of the Year. Moon also accompanied Hinnant’s group to Raleigh.
Noble added, too, that she is getting tired of how teachers are viewed regarding the laws being proposed about books in schools and efforts to block diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
“It's almost like you don't trust us to make sound decisions for our students. Like, at what point did you think we became the enemy that's trying to brainwash these kids? That's another issue I have, is that there's no trust in teachers anymore to teach the curriculum that has been put in front of us,” she said.
Noble said she would support a statewide cell phone ban and thinks it should be legislators' priority rather than books.
Facility spending, bonds?
Another point of contention is how New Hanover County will pay for its capital funding needs. Stein’s proposal includes a $4 billion state bond for facilities; NHCS would receive $61 million if the General Assembly approved it. Funding for facilities to this degree is not in the Senate proposal.
If New Hanover takes up a school bond on its own, proposals have been mentioned for 2026, Hinnant said, they need to see a number and plans before those in his party support it. The county is providing about half a million dollars to conduct a district-wide facility study that would put cost estimates to these plans. He also said he wanted to be mindful of voter-approved debt, as the current rate is about two cents out of the .45 cents per $100 of property value.
Chief Financial Officer Eric Credle estimates that the county — in two years — could take on an additional $131 million in debt. However, he also said they’re looking to revisit their policy that stipulates the amount of debt they could approve, such as a future school bond.
Hinnant said he’d like Barnes, when ready, to pitch it to a Republican party town hall.
“We're gonna be your toughest audience, and if he cuts his teeth with us, he'll get better,” he said.
Nelson said she sees a game among politicians, whether at the local, state, or federal level, in which they shift responsibility to another level.
“And all that does is further extend the waiting period of us to actually see results, and that is a big part of why we're in the position today where we're so desperately underfunded, because it's nobody's problem in their opinions, and the reality is, it's all of our problems,” she said.
While Hinnant, Noble, and Nelson met with various legislators, time will tell if those lawmakers address some of their concerns in the next cycle. The Senate and House must work out their budget proposal, vote on it, and then send it to the Governor. Stein can then veto or approve it.
Hinnant said he and his group met with most legislators from the Cape Fear region. Noble met with Senator Michael Lee and Representative Charlie Miller, and Nelson met with Representative Ted Davis.
WHQR reached out to Lee, Davis, and Miller to see how these meetings went and what they’re hoping gets passed in the budget for education — Davis only responded saying, “The House Budget is still in the process of being completed.”
