The North Carolina Legislature's refusal to extend the temporary 1-cent sales tax, combined with their "cuts only" approach to closing the state's budget shortfall, will result in massive funding cuts and job eliminations at all levels of public education.

Their proposed budget would make hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to local school districts and slice more than $400 million from the University of North Carolina system. Those cuts will mean thousands of teachers, teacher assistants and other school workers are likely to lose their jobs.

These cuts will put North Carolina's decades-long investment in public education at risk, have negative implications for the state's business climate, and threaten our long-term economic competitiveness. While other states are prioritizing education during tough economic times, North Carolina will drop to near the bottom nationally in per-pupil K-12 school funding.

These proposed education cuts are dramatically out-of-touch with the majority of North Carolina's citizens and taxpayers. It is time to draw a line in the sand and support more funding for public schools, community colleges, and the university system.

North Carolina Citizens for Protecting Our Schools, a non-profit, 501(c)4 corporation, is working to educate the state citizens, leaders, and public officials concerning the importance of adequately funding the state's public education system.