Source: Editorial Board
This month, voters in Guilford County will have a chance to vote for a school bond. The $1.7 billion dollar bond would address crucial safety and maintenance updates in schools throughout Guilford County.
It is no secret that our schools are underfunded. With crumbling buildings, underpaid teachers and staff, school bus driver shortages, and a lack of supplies we are all seeing how this chronic lack of resources is affecting our families. The pandemic has only served to highlight even more dramatically how much needs to be done.
In March when Guilford County Commissioners toured Grimsley High School they were shocked by the degradation of the building itself. During the visit, one commissioner remarked that it was “the worst conditions for students and teachers.”
Kenya Donaldson, an educator from Guilford County who has dedicated her life to serving and teaching children, shared that it has angered her “ to think that an entire generation of North Carolina’s children have not received a fully funded public education.”
With the Leandro decision, which found the state has neglected its constitutional mandate to provide all students with a quality education, still tied up in court there is no relief in sight for our students. Donaldson, who has watched the actions of the North Carolina legislature closely, said, “For nearly a decade, the target of state budget cuts has been on the backs of the state’s public school children.” Because of this lack of funding from the state, we must turn to local sources.
Additionally, there are primary contests in two of the five Guilford County school board races that will be on the ballot this November. Early voting is already underway and election day is on May 17th. The general election for the school board takes place on November 8th.
For more information on how and where to vote see the Guilford County Board of Elections website.
