RALEIGH, N.C.  – Gov. Beverly Perdue is seeing – as are her predecessors – how difficult it is to establish and retain a legacy, even those fashioned with catchy names.

Facing one of the state’s worst fiscal situations in decades, Perdue’s two-year state budget proposal would take a paring knife to the Smart Start and More at Four early childhood education programs championed respectively by former Govs. Jim Hunt and Mike Easley.

And Perdue, a fellow Democrat, would lop off completely the Support Our Students after-school program unveiled 15 years ago by Hunt, Perdue’s mentor, that worked with more than 14,000 students last year to keep them out of trouble.

The loss of Support Our Students “could be very, very devastating in some communities,” said Sorien Schmidt with the advocacy group Action for Children North Carolina. “It just puts parents in a bind.”
 
Perdue also couldn’t begin quite like she wanted on her broad “College Promise” program because there wasn’t enough money to begin efforts to make community college tuition free. She instead wants more university financial aid and job-retraining grants for community college students.

With the state struggling to narrow a $3.4 billion budget shortfall next year and political sway transient, it’s difficult for a governor to get a pet project started or keep it once out of office.

By Chris Cowperthwaite
NBC17

A bill is being introduced in the North Carolina State Senate aimed at curbing future reassignment plans involving so-called “community schools.”

Republican Senator Neal Hunt from Wake County is sponsoring the bill for the second year in a row.

If approved, the bill would force school districts to offer private school vouchers to families of reassigned students who live within a mile and a half of their original school.

“The idea behind that is of course convenience — if you live in the neighborhood, you like to go to that school,” said Hunt.  “Also it would save the busing all the way across the county or wherever you have to go.  And as a corollary to that, I suggest you take that money we save on busing and get it to teachers for merit pay and differential pay.”

If it passes, the bill would probably have a major impact on any future reassignment plans.

“It would be impossible,” said Wake County School Board member Ron Margiotta.  “The school system would lose all of their dollars.  They’d be unwilling to give up their dollars; they do not want to lose students to the private schools.”

That’s a big “if,” though; the bill never made it out of committee last year, and Hunt isn’t optimistic that it will be any different in 2009.

The voucher issue has always been a controversial topic on its own, and to tack it onto another controversial issue like reassignment makes it pretty tough to get a lot of support.

Hunt said he thinks the recent reassignment battles in Wake County could make things a little more interesting this year, though.

“I think it’s probably going to help it, because the neighborhoods are so fired up about that issue that I think it might get a little traction this time,” said Hunt.

More from Ron Margiotta:

According to a PPP poll, former Governor Jim Hunt beats Jesse Helms when it comes to who North Carolinians say they have a higher opinion of now.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Former Gov. Jim Hunt said Wednesday he’s not interested in becoming Barack Obama’s education secretary but wants to keep advising his administration on education issues.

Hunt, who served a record four terms as governor through 2001, had been on several lists of potential Cabinet members following Obama’s presidential victory last week.

Returning from a three-day trip to Seattle for a Gates Foundation event attended by Obama education advisers, Hunt told

The News & Observer of Raleigh he still expects to work closely with the U.S. Education Department, but he’ll do it from North Carolina.

“I just spent several days with the top Obama people,” Hunt said. “Many encouraged me to do it. I told them I would not go to Washington.”

Hunt, 71, campaigned hard for Obama in North Carolina, where the Democratic nominee became the first in 32 years to win the state’s electoral votes.

The Wilson County native championed the Smart Start early childhood initiative in the 1990s and supported a program that links student test scores to teacher bonuses. He now works in a Raleigh law firm and leads think tanks on public schools and higher education.

Hunt said he talked with Obama during a campaign stop in Raleigh the week before the election. He urged Obama to follow through on an education platform that gives every child a world-class education from birth through college graduation.

Hunt said Obama also should take a personal leadership role in improving education.

“This is a man who spent a lot of time on the streets of Chicago and knows about good schools and poor schools,” and knows the importance of improving lousy schools, Hunt said. Obama also needs to have a close relationship with governors, the ex-governor said.

RALEIGH, N.C. – An advocate for education reform throughout his career, former NC Governor Jim Hunt will address educational policy for new national administration.

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina leaders in the Democratic Party are uniting to support Senator Barack Obama for president.

The North Carolina Leaders for Change gathered Monday morning at the Farmers Market in Raleigh. Healthcare and farming were hot topics but the current state of the economy, and why Obama is the best man to handle it, dominated conversation.

An historic financial crisis is giving an historic election all the more gusto. Leaders like North Carolina Senator Tony Rand and U.S. Congressman G.K. Butterfield took the microphone and said it’s time for a change.

“It’s obvious our world is in turmoil and we need strong leadership,” Rand said.

“John McCain sadly, simply represents another four years of George W. Bush,” Butterfield said.

Former Governor Jim Hunt pledged his support to Obama, partly because he said he deeply cares about North Carolina.

“This situation is too serious, people are concerned, they know we need a change, and they sense the strength and the wisdom of Barack Obama,” Hunt said.

Congressman Brad Miller insisted Obama has called for financial reform and has a plan for the future.

“Barack Obama in the last two or three weeks in the middle of this crisis has been solid, stable, thoughtful, mature and John McCain has been like a moth caught in a lampshade, he has been bouncing around with no particular direction,” Miller said.

But Republican State Representative Paul Stam said Obama is the one who hasn’t had direction.

“Senator Obama has had like three different versions of his plan, to get the nomination for his party he wanted the capital gains tax to go back up so high that it would actually reduce the amount of money received,” Stam said.

Stam said McCain does have an economic plan.

“Reduce taxes and he’s well known for reduced spending,” McCain said.

And while the economy became a top election issue North Carolina has become an unexpected battleground state. The latest Public Policy Polling has Barack Obama leading John McCain 50 to 44 in North Carolina.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former Gov. Jim Hunt, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, U.S. Reps. David Price, Bob Etheridge, Brad Miller, G.K. Butterfield and N.C. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand will join forces Monday to support Senator Obama and his healthcare plan.

The event will focus on how an Obama Administration will address the challenges facing North Carolina families. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. at the State Farmers Market Restaurant, 1240 Farmer’s Drive, Raleigh.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Former Gov. Jim Hunt, N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge, David Price, Brad Miller, G.K. Butterfield and N.C. Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand will gather Monday in Raleigh to support Senator Barack Obama’s economic plan.

The group will appear at 9:30 a.m. at the Raleigh Farmer’s Market, 1201 Agriculture St.