SOUTH

© Getty Images

North Carolina Drives Clean School Buses

This school year the wheels on a clean diesel bus will go round and round in North Carolina. The state received six new environmentally friendly children-haulers to replace older school buses in Wilson, Edgecombe, Pitt and Nash counties, according to a press release.

“We already know that school buses are the safest way for children to get to and from school,” said State Superintendent June Atkinson. “We are pleased to be able to do our part in also helping to make the air healthier for students and grateful to the EPA for sharing the cost of these new clean diesel buses.”

Stimulus funds helped make the switch possible and came from Recovery Act dollars funneled through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.

The six new school buses feature the latest in clean diesel technology and emit 20 times less harmful exhaust emissions than 1998 engines, the press release reports.

“These new buses will be healthier for the students and people in these counties,” said Sheila Holman, director of the North Carolina Division of Air Quality. “By emitting less nitrogen oxide, the new buses also will better position the state to meet its goals and the possibility of stricter air quality standards from the EPA.”

The SouthThe South

TEACHER PENSIONS

Alabama’s pension costs for active and retired teacher pensions and other employees could increase $745 million—a 77 percent jump—by decade’s end, according to The Birmingham News. “The problem is that the cost of the retirement system is exceeding the amount of money the legislature has to appropriate for it,” Teachers’ Retirement System board Chairman Paul Hubbert told the newspaper.

PRIVATIZE HIGHER ED?

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said privatizing public colleges and universities is not likely and not practical—even if the system faces budget cut after budget cut. “Public universities are also there for a purpose and the primary purpose of which is being able to control cost and being able to make sure that education remains available and affordable for every child who wants to pursue higher education,” Bolling said.

TEACHER LAYOFFS

Florida cut university budgets and community college funding, which led to teacher layoffs, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The University of Florida will slash 150 positions this year, including 50 staff and faculty layoffs, and Florida State University is laying off up to 200 faculty and staff, the center reports.

TUITION HIKES

Georgia’s four public research colleges—Georgia State, Georgia Tech, the Medical College of Georgia and the University of Georgia—increased tuition by $500 per semester after the state cut funding for higher education by 7 percent, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Community colleges will increase tuition by $50 per semester, the center reports.

SCHOOL MILK

Only fat-free milk and low-fat 1 percent milk will be served in Mississippi schools this school year, thanks to a new standard approved by the State Board of Education. “By lowering the fat content of school milk, children get the nutrients they need without extra fat and calories that can contribute to weight gain,” Shane McNeill, director of the Office of Healthy Schools in the Mississippi Department of Education, said in a press release.

64TH ANNUAL MEETING

To view photos and presentations, and read policy positions from the 64th Southern Legislative Conference in Charleston, S.C., visit the SLC website at www.slcatlanta.org.

To learn more about these and other developments in the Southern Region, visit: capitolideas.csg.org and www.slcatlanta.org.