OBSERVATIONS
October 17, 2019



Wingate Lassiter
THE EDITOR'S POINT OF VIEW

Why shouldn't state pay all the bill

to educate "exceptional" children?


A big chunk of the budget shortfall facing Johnston County Public Schools just now is blamed on a state formula for reimbursing local school systems for the expense of educating "exceptional" children. "Exceptional" is a bureaucratic term for "handicapped."

The state currently provides such funding based on the assumption that no more than 12.75% of a school system's students are "exceptional." In Johnston County, 17% of our students fall into that category, which means they require additional "resources" for their education.

Choosing not to ration that funding from the 12.75% rule, Johnston's school leaders choose to make up the difference every year with county funds. And there's the rub:

Interim Superintendent Jim Causby told Johnston's Board of Education last week that about $8 million of a $10 million shortfall in the school system's pending budget can be attributed to the county's added expense of educating handicapped children.

Meanwhile, the N.C. General Assembly has a budget surplus on its hands and wants to "refund" part of it to taxpayers, even after a cut in state income taxes last year.

The state's cap on paying for "exceptional" children's education is yet another example of an important need not met even though the state's taxpayers could afford the expense with revenues already in place.

Higher pay for school teachers is another. More money for classroom supplies, too.

In the beginning, going back a hundred years, the deal was for the state to pay for the operation of our public schools and the county to pay for the "infrastucture," including school buildings, buses, athletic facilities, and the like. Over the years that bargain has been broken time and again by the state's legislators, who "pass the buck" to local government whenever it suits their political fancy.

"QUICK FACTS" from the U.S. CENSUS
about Smithfield, Johnston County,
and North Carolina

NOTE: This is the latest available information at this time;
estimates for July 2019 aren't expected before early 2020.


Smithfield
 Johnston Co.
 North Carolina
POPULATION (est. July 1, 2018)
 12,669
 202,675
 10,383,620
Under age 18
 18.8%
 25.5%
 22.2%
Age 65 & older
 23.1%
 13.3%
 16.3%
White
 48.1%
 67.2%
 62.8%
Black
 28.8%
 16.8%
 22.2%
Hispanic/Latino
 18.2%
 14.0%
 9.6%
Owner-occupied homes *
 51.7%
 71.7%
 65.0%
Median owner-occupied home value *
 $128,600
 $150,700
 $161,000
Median monthly rent *
 $784
 $827
 $844
Households with computers *
 78.5%
 87.9%
 85.5%
Households with broadband internet *
 62.5%
 75.0%
 75.8%
High-school graduate or higher *
 76.7%
 85.6%
 86.9%
College bachelor's degree or higher *
 20.1%
 21.7%
 29.9%
Under age 65 with disability *
 14.0%
 10.5%
 9.6%
Without health insurance
 27.7%
 14.0%
 12.6%
Mean travel time to work, minutes *
 22.5 29.9
 24.3
Median household income (2017 $'s)
 $34,551
 $54,610
 $50,320
In poverty
 23.2%
 15.1%
 14.7%
    * 2013-17 estimates



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