Tuesday, March 15, polls will open and North Carolina citizens will be able to vote for or against the Connect NC bond proposed by Gov. Pat McCrory this past August. The referendum would provide $2 billion for investments throughout the state pertaining to “higher education, safety, parks, recreation and water and sewer infrastructure improvements,” according to the UNC System website. $980 million will go to the 17-campus UNC System. Of this, $160 million would go to NC State, primarily to fund the Engineering Oval Project on Centennial Campus and the Plant Sciences Project that would aim to improve agricultural research on NC State’s campus.
We hope you will vote in favor of the bond.
However, we do not think the Connect NC bond should be conflated with adequate educational development. As it sits now, the bond does a lot to increase the quantity of educational facilities but not enough to stimulate a change in the quality of education.
The bond focuses on advancing statewide infrastructure, and this is incredibly important. It has been 15 years since North Carolina voters passed a general obligation bond to improve state infrastructure, according to the Connect NC website. The bond aims essentially to bring the public institutions of North Carolina up to speed. In addition to the money going to the UNC System, $350 million will go toward giving community colleges the revitalization they need and deserve.
Given the awful state of North Carolina’s transportation system, it is disappointing that one of McCrory’s initial objectives — improving state transportation — was cut from the referendum. It is hard to be excited about new buildings when it is difficult to get to them in the first place, when it takes 30 minutes to navigate Hillsborough Street.
Opponents of the bond object primarily to the presumed strain it would put on North Carolina financially. However, McCrory has promised that no tax increases are necessary to finance the bond, and according to North Carolina Fiscal Research Division estimates, our General Fund Ceiling should more than allow for the Connect NC bonds. The Connect NC website says this is in part because North Carolina is paying off its debt rapidly and will be able to sustain the financial burden of the bond.
This bond should not pass as “enough,” and seeing as it has been supported by the North Carolina Board of Governors, it would benefit us to remember that the financial support promised for new buildings will not in itself promote the growth and development of our educational standards. New buildings do not compensate for continually low teacher pay, the closed-door hiring of Margaret Spellings and the millions of dollars that have been cut from the UNC System’s budget.
We urge you to vote for the Connect NC bond tomorrow, but realize that this bipartisan effort does not absolve North Carolina of its ongoing educational failures.
