Beaufort County Schools’ teaching assistants and supporting teachers, administrators and other community members deserve a round of applause.

This past week the North Carolina General Assembly finally compromised on a budget for this fiscal year, a budget that was almost three months overdue. Gov. Pat McCrory signed the budget into law on Friday.

This signals at least a short-term victory for Beaufort County’s teaching assistants, as the legislature agreed to fully fund them. Originally, the Senate proposed a budget draft that would slash that funding in half and instead funnel the money toward hiring more teachers and thus reducing class sizes.

But the success of the Senate’s plan hinged on the assurance of the legislature actually hiring those extra teachers and just how many counties would actually see smaller class sizes — which certainly wouldn’t be all. Not to mention the time it takes to make those plans a reality, which could have left teachers overwhelmed with a large class and no assistant to help.

Many school employees in Beaufort County came together as not many would. They scheduled meetings with Rep. Paul Tine and Sen. Bill Cook and continually encouraged constituents to contact their representatives. And this all happened outside of the busy schedules of their lives, simply because they cared and knew the plan wasn’t right for education.

Again, not many people would put in the amount of time and effort that these employees have. They never gave up and never backed down on their cause. Thankfully, someone in Raleigh must’ve listened.

But more importantly, this speaks volumes about the character of these Beaufort County Schools employees. To them, it’s not just a job. The students matter and so does the education of these students. Ultimately, the students are in good hands.

Because of the employees’ dedication, Beaufort County is able to keep its teaching assistants for at least another school year. This type of fight will almost certainly happen again, but for now, Beaufort County’s teaching assistants deserve the residents’ praise and support.