A group of about 30 teaching assistants, teachers and administrators gathered at the Chocowinity Fire Department on Thursday night to speak with Sen. Bill Cook about the state of assistants’ jobs in the area.

The North Carolina General Assembly is still trying to work out a budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, including the funding for teaching assistants. The House proposed to keep funding at the same amount as the last fiscal year, but the Senate proposed to slash funding in half and funnel the money into hiring more teachers.

The fate of teaching assistants has been an ongoing struggle of uncertainty, as many assistants were not sure whether they would have a job this school year.

The Beaufort County Board of Education cut nine individuals’ jobs at a meeting on Aug. 10 because of a lack of funding, but the jobs were reinstated after the county Board of Commissioners agreed to fund them at a special called meeting on Aug. 17.

A group with many of the same school employees who attended Thursday’s meeting, also met with Rep. Paul Tine on Aug. 3 to voice concerns, although Tine has emphasized his support for the assistants’ job funding.

Beaufort County teaching assistants are still vying for the continued funding from the state, as they may face the same problem again next year, but Cook left many of them with even more questions and concerns.

At the meeting, Cook said research has indicated that the best learning environment for students operates on a ratio of one teacher to 15 students.

He said this is why the Senate has proposed to cut the assistants’ positions, so the money could be used to hire more teachers and reduce class sizes.

“Education is a little bit of a political football,” Cook said. “My goal, I believe, is the same goal you have.”

Alicia Vosburgh, principal at Chocowinity Primary School, said the research the Senate is using is from the 1980s and 90s, and schools do not work the same way now as they did at that time.

She said having 15 students in a classroom is no better and no different than having 18 or 20.

“Times have changed,” Vosburgh said. “We’re in the 21^st century.”

Robbins Rees, teaching assistant at Eastern Elementary School, said teachers have many responsibilities besides just teaching, including one-on-one testing with students, and the assistant is needed to keep the rest of the class running smoothly.

She said she has a college degree and has the ability to teach the students along with the regular teacher, as do many other assistants.

“I don’t know if you’ve spent a day in the classroom,” Rees said. “We have children who have no resources. All they have is what we do.”

She said referencing a research study that is 30 years old is insulting to her and her colleagues, as classrooms are different now and require the extra help.

“We work really, really hard. … She cannot do what is required of her (alone),” Rees said. “I think you’re comparing apples and oranges here.”

Vickie Wilkinson, a former teaching assistant at Chocowinity Primary School who will be relocating to Chocowinity Middle School this year, said she had always wanted to be a teaching assistant, which is why she went back to school in her 50s to get her certification.

Wilkinson said each classroom has a wide variety of reading levels, and it is the job of both teacher and assistant to move each child forward. In her experience this year, Wilkinson said she and the regular teacher Penny Miller worked in groups with the students based on their reading abilities and were able to cater to the needs of both the advanced readers and those who were falling behind.

“I think Ms. Miller can attest we made a huge difference in our class. …Teaching assistants are vital; they are absolutely critical,” she said. “Those children just skyrocketed.”

“How does she do that when there’s no teaching assistant there?”

Amid the comments of concerned school employees, Cook explained that the Senate proposal offers a degree of autonomy to the local school systems—schools that can physically accommodate the classrooms needed to create a 15-to-1 ratio would be able to use the money to hire more teachers, and schools that do not have the room can use it to hire teaching assistants instead.

“It’s up to the local areas how they spend their money,” he said, answering protests as to the effects of state spending guidelines on funds. “I want our children to have the best education possible.”

He said that education is an emotional topic, but he thinks the state is not the one taking teaching assistants away, and the Senate proposal is the best way to improve education in the state.

“I’m very moved by what I’ve heard,” Cook said. “God bless you for doing what you do.”

Rees said she hopes Cook will at least consider the assistants’ side of the argument and be open to it.

“You know what we do, Sen. Cook? We suck it up,” she said.

“It’s our heart, it’s our calling, it’s our dedication,” Rees said, prompting applause from the crowd. “We are in the mission field.”