The North Carolina Senate proposed cuts to the state’s public education system, and Governor Bev Perdue has vowed to veto the budget if it is left unchanged.

The state Senate released a budget proposal Tuesday, making multiple changes to the House’s submitted budget. The Senate Appropriations Committee met Wednesday morning to discuss the budget, according to Jo Ann Norris, president and executive director of North Carolina Teaching Fellows—one of the several programs on the chopping block.

Norris, who serves as the Teaching Fellows’ Legislative and Commission Liaison, said she believes the Senate will accept the bill.

The budget approval process works as follows: first, the Governor proposes a budget; second, the House creates its own budget after reviewing the Governor’s; third, the House’s budget is sent to the Senate, but the Senate makes its own budget; fourth, the budget is sent back down to the House, and a joint committee is formed to hash out differences between the House and Senate’s budgets; finally, the joint budget is sent to the Governor for approval.

Currently, Republicans dominate the state Senate with a ratio of 31 to 19. The House is also controlled by Republicans, who outnumber Democrats 67 to 52.

Regardless of who controls the legislature, Perdue said she won’t accept a budget that will deal a severe blow to public education.

“This state was built on providing a quality education for all North Carolinians. Let me be clear: it’s a core part of who we are and what we value as a people,” Purdue said. “By the time they come together, they need to send me a budget that protects our schools, community colleges and universities. If they pass a budget that undermines our schools and fails to protect the quality of our education system, then I will have no choice but to veto it,” Purdue said.

If Purdue vetoed the budget, named House Bill 200, then the House would need to muster two-thirds of the vote in order to pass the bill.

Although most of the proposed cuts are raising many concerns, the cut to the Teaching Fellows Program will directly affect students coming into the UNC system in particular. The program, a state-funded program providing students with a four-year scholarship, provides high school students with aspirations to teach a chance to get extensive hands-on experience teaching.

“Teaching Fellows begin their teacher preparation as soon as they arrive on the 17 campuses in their freshmen year,” Norris said. “Most folks who are preparing to be teachers do not enter teacher education, officially, until their junior year in college.”

If the budget is accepted, the program will be phased out over the coming years. Incoming college freshmen and current Fellows would be unaffected financially, but beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year, no more applicants would be accepted.

According to Norris, while the program is nationally renowned, she thinks the legislature “is willing to let that go by the wayside.”

“Teaching Fellows Graduates hold positions of leadership in every capacity in our State’s public schools,” Norris said. “It is a model program in every way.”

Nelson Blair, senior in middle grades language arts and social studies education and Teaching Fellow, said he is disappointed with the state Senate’s refusal to support public education.

“Obviously the economic situation that we are in makes budget cuts necessary. However, I feel public education is one of the most important things the state of North Carolina can offer. In a perfect world we wouldn’t have to make big cuts, and we could actually pay teachers what they deserve,” Blair said. “But since that will never happen, I think some of the important things that need to stay would include a Teaching Fellows-type program encouraging high school seniors to go into the teaching profession.”

According to Manasa Chitluri, junior in psychology, given the importance she places on education, she’s angry that the legislature sees other institutions as having priority.

“I’m just infuriated because it’s not just a recent thing. For the past few years, anytime budget cuts were mentioned, teachers were the first to be attacked,” Chitluri said. “So much money is spent on other things that aren’t as useful, especially with the stimulus package and the bailout program we have now, where unnecessary money is being spent for companies and banks and loan programs.”

Chitluri also said rather than cutting support for our state’s educators, the legislature should instead be increasing support of programs it now aims to eliminate.

“I think if we put that funding back into education and teacher’s salaries, we’ll reap what we sow. Teachers are the basis of our economy, because without them, no one would be anywhere right now,” Chitluri said. “I can’t even count on two hands the number of teachers that have positively influenced me in the past 19 years, and I can’t imagine where I would be without them, without the training and support that they’ve gotten from the programs that schools have currently installed for them.”

According to Blair, the Senate’s proposal is not “education-friendly” and lacks the necessary long-term vision.

“I’m also extremely shocked the mentor program is being cut. As a soon to be first year teacher, I was really looking forward to having that relationship with an experienced teacher. I’d like to see the budget be more education-friendly and allow teachers and support staff to do their thing when it comes to educating the youth of North Carolina,” Blair said. “Maybe the Senate should think about the type of education their children or grandchildren might receive after all of these major cuts.”

Amanda Wilkins provided information for this article.