Despite warnings from fiscal analysts and Republicans that the COVID-19 pandemic is stretching financial resources, Gov. Roy Cooper’s fiscal 2021 amended budget proposal includes $2,000 in bonuses for teachers and principals as well as bonuses for school support staff and higher education employees.

About $85 million of that $360 million in bonus payments would be taken directly from the state’s private school voucher fund, which provides scholarships to lower-income students to attend private schools.