Walter Dalton unveiled his education platform, saying "great jobs grow from great schools"WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Lt. Gov.
Walter Dalton says he would restore recent public education cuts, try to raise
teacher salaries to the national average and give more people the ability to
save or get help to attend college if he's elected North Carolina governor.
Dalton unveiled his education platform
at a news conference in Wilmington on Wednesday, hours before his televised
debate with Republican Pat McCrory.
"Cutting public education will only dig us deeper
into an economic hole," Dalton said in a release posted on his campaign
website. "We didn't close our public schools or fire a single teacher during
the Great Depression and we can't afford to now. As your next governor, I won't
allow that to happen. If elected, I will be the public schools governor North
Carolina needs to ensure that we have a strong workforce well-prepared for the
jobs of the future."
The 18-page proposal emphasizes
linking education to skills and curricula that will allow students to get
high-demand jobs. He wants to expand early college high schools to all 100
counties and give instate tuition to more veterans. Teacher salaries would go
up incrementally.
The plan costs more than $600 million
in the first year. Dalton's campaign says he wouldn't seek higher sales taxes
to pay for it.
Click here to see more on Dalton's
plan.
Copyright
2012 WECT. The
Associates Press contributed to this story.
