State Representative Pricey Harrison: Up To 13,400 Teacher Jobs for North Carolina

The President has been traveling across the country to show how the American Jobs Act will help modernize our schools, rebuild our infrastructure, and put Americans back to work. Earlier this week, the President visited Jamestown, NC as a part of his three-day American Jobs Act bus tour.

North Carolina State Representative Pricey Harrison reflects on the President’s remarks in Jamestown, and explains how the American Jobs Act will create jobs in North Carolina and throughout the nation:

I spent  part of Tuesday with President Obama as he met with and spoke to teachers, students, staff, and other citizens of Guilford County while in Jamestown on the campus of Guilford Technical Community College. The President was there to promote the American Jobs Act, which is projected to create  more than 2 million jobs nationwide and help rebuild our middle class and an economy that works for all of us.

The Piedmont Triad has been hit particularly hard by the loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs over the past decade and this year's state budget did further damage to the state's economy by making cuts that will result in  a net loss of more than 30,000 jobs statewide over the next two years. These job losses have been felt hardest in the education sector, where  2,418 jobs were cut this school year (and more than 9,200 since 2008), primarily teachers and teachers assistants.

The President's plan would do much to help our state and our country recover from the extended recession.  The plan proposes to invest $35 billion to prevent layoffs of up to 280,000 teachers nationwide, while supporting the hiring of tens of thousands more and keeping police officers and firefighters on the job. These  funds will provide over $900 million  to North Carolina to support up to 13,400 educator jobs. .

The plan also provides  a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure, over $675 million of which would be available to North Carolina to support as many as 8,800 jobs.

 The President also spoke about  how his plan is fully paid for.  He emphasized how the wealthiest among us should pay their fair share .

 It is time to pass the American Jobs Act.