ACAE regularly runs campaigns to build our union, tilt the levers of power towards the working class, and win material improvements for staff, students, and our public school community. In Spring 2025, ACAE did that by running our “No Cuts, Just Commitment” budget campaign.
In late September 2024, Tropical Storm Helene arrived in Western North Carolina, a truly generational storm that led to millions of dollars worth of damage in Asheville and Buncombe County. While there were many visible impacts from Helene (flooding damage, landslides, fallen trees, etc), a less visible impact was how the storm affected our local economy.
(A group of union members helping with aid efforts at BeLoved Asheville, October 16, 2024)
In January 2025, blaming the economic impacts from Helene, our county government cut mid-year local education funding by $4.7 million, affecting not only Asheville City Schools but also the neighboring Buncombe County Schools. Though this funding cut was absorbed by the reserve fund balance of ACS and BCS, the fear was that these cuts were not a one-off. Asheville City Association of Educators and Buncombe County Association of Educators both deeply opposed this mid-year cut.
(Around 80 ACAE and BCAE members demonstrated in the freezing cold against these cuts, Jan 21st, 2025)
Committing to do everything we could do, ACAE launched our “No Cuts, Just Commitment” campaign. Buncombe County Association of Educators also joined ACAE in this campaign.
Seeing this as the campaign to save our public schools, ACAE and BCAE took powerful and historic action to win this campaign. We held a 400+ person town hall with county commissioners, over 60 union members held face to face conversations with Board of Education members and county commissioners, a majority of all staff in both districts signed a petition in support of a No Cuts budget, over 200 workers and allies marched through the streets on the day of the final budget vote. We knew that when it came to funding our future, we needed to do everything we could.
We would ultimately not win a No Cuts budget. The county government would underfund our budget request by $13 million. We are not blaming ourselves, though, for we did all we could. ACAE looks forward to using this recent campaign to organize further and become stronger, leading to a future where cutting school funding is never an option again.
For a longer statement from ACAE and BCAE presidents, watch here: https://www.facebook.com/BCAEUnite/videos/9869200653115795
To defend and transform North Carolina public schools, join ACAE today! 