According to the most recent reports, the North Carolina state budget is in a $3.2 BILLION deficit. To counteract this, the North Carolina General Assembly is proposing a $1 BILLION dollar cut from the NC Education Budget, which could result in the termination of 20,000 + teacher positions in North Carolina alone. These proposed budget cuts would not only hurt the already struggling economy with an increase in unemployment, but would also put North Carolina students at a disadvantage, with larger class sizes and a lack of individual attention, at a time when North Carolina already is below the national average for public education. There is also a proposal of cutting up to 6.8% off of teacher salaries, which is absurd, since most teachers put at least $500 of their own money into their classrooms, not to mention the large amount of preparation that teachers put into their lessons on a daily basis. Also, many areas have already had to let go support staff, which includes administration, staff members who facilitate new tools, technologies and methods for teachers to reach students. Please forward this to anyone and everyone you know so that we can work to save our public school systems!