(RALEIGH) -- A new version of an education bill includes provisions to lengthen the school calendar by five days and create merit pay for teachers, but the budget proposal may also mean many teacher assistants will lose their job.

Rodney Ellis of the North Carolina Association of Educators says children like his second-grade son will suffer. "I know how valuable his teacher assistant is in his classroom because he, like many youngsters today, are very active, very rambunctious, and it helps to have a second pair of eyes to be able to monitor and assist and provide that remedial support that students may need in the classroom," he said.

Senate President Phil Berger says cutting the teaching assistants will free money to begin to shrink class size in first through third grades.