North Carolina suspended driver's ed programs amid a budget crisis, and teens are so bummed

By Patrick Hogan  |  August 20, 2015 | 2:08pm
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North Carolina has not yet passed a state budget, with most schools opening either this week or next. This will certainly have consequences for state workers and for school funding, as well as a number of other essential bureaucratic function.

It also affects driver’s ed courses, with at least one third of the state’s schools suspending programs. This means that thousands of North Carolinian teens won’t get behind the wheel when they thought they would.

As you can imagine, the teens are bummed.

For example: Raleigh’s Wake County Public School System suspended its program, according to The News & Reporter, preventing 3,300 students who have already completed the classroom portion of the course from getting behind the wheel for the driving portion.

This is a major setback for teens, who just want to cruise.

“I’m just bummed,” said Koy Holt, 14, a home-schooler interviewed by the News and Observer. “I wanted to get my permit as quickly as I could.”

“It’s like a landmark … for getting older and maturing,” Gretchen Mackie, 14, said (sighed?) while speaking with local TV station WNCN. “It’s a big deal that if I can’t take the class I can’t do those things.”

Others took to Twitter to express their outrage, particularly in response to a tweet by Wake County schools announcing the suspension.

So take heed, North Carolina legislators. I wouldn’t want her mad at me.

 
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