Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010

School board should save for rainy day

The news release said the congressman had voted to save thousands of teaching jobs, including 119 in Johnston County. But those 119 jobs in Johnston were never at risk. More than a month earlier, North Carolina lawmakers had saved those Johnston jobs and thousands more statewide by agreeing to use lottery dollars for teaching positions.

The sense of urgency voiced in Congress was nowhere to be heard in Johnston, which was preparing, without panic, for the opening of another school year. In an e-mail, Robin Little, personnel chief for Johnston schools, said the schools had not yet decided how to spend the $6.5 million in emergency aid delivered by Congress. Under the legislation, she said, the schools can use the money to save jobs or create them. School districts can even sit on the money for a year if they want to, she said.

For Johnston, the last idea might be the best. Thankfully, the schools had the money they needed to employ the teachers who welcomed students back to school this week. Meanwhile, we have heard many county and state leaders say that next budget year, in terms of revenue, might be harder than this one. In that case, the schools here might want to have that $6.5 million on hand. That money could tide the schools over until revenue rebounds.

If we had had our druthers, Congress would not have appropriated money this year to save jobs that were not in jeopardy this year. But that's money under the bridge. The question now is what to do with the cash. We can think of worse things than saving it for a rainy day.

As for the congressman, he probably should have asked North Carolina if it needed to save teaching jobs. Absent a real emergency, the congressman appears, at best, out of touch with North Carolina's needs. At worst, in an election year, he's an opportunist creating a "crisis" for political gain.