DURHAM, N.C. – Tracey Barrett loves being in her classroom with her students.

Now, her classroom is virtual, but Barrett says her high school-aged students are still dialed in to her social studies class, paying special attention to what’s happening in state government right now.

"They understand,” Barrett says. “They are very critical thinkers, they ask great questions, they get to have beautiful discussions in class."

Barrett says she has long fought for the needs of her fellow teachers and students, but isn’t confident that those needs are being met.

"Our advocacy as teachers has really fallen on deaf ears from the leadership in Raleigh right now,” says Barrett. “Their responses range from dismissive to outright hostile and it is frustrating."

For the past five years under Republican leadership, teachers in our state have gotten raises.

But this year, teacher pay raises got stuck in the budget stalemate that started last year between the General Assembly and Governor Roy Cooper.

The budget proposal included raises, but both sides couldn’t come to an agreement to the term of the budget as a whole, so the teachers got the short end of the stick.

However, Barrett says education funding concerns for her stretch beyond her own paycheck.

"Teacher pay is absolutely an issue, but when we are repeatedly calling on our leadership in Raleigh to fully fund public schools and we are told time and time again that money isn’t there, that we can’t afford to fix our school buildings, that we can’t afford to have more schools nurses,” says Barrett. “All of those things are choices they have made as legislators."

Republican legislative leaders say this is a false narrative and that  money is not only being given to public schools, but at an increased rate over time.

"Particularly for the last 10 years, we have increased education funding at the state level by significant amounts,” said Senate President Pro-ten Phil Berger. “And those increases, I believe, have been such that the General Assembly, the state of North Carolina is complying with the constitutional mandate."

Right now, education funding accounts for 40 percent of our total 24 billion dollar a year state budget-that is more than any other expenditure. So differences on how that money should be allocated is expected.

Its not just education that could see a major shift if there is new power in the legislature.

Taxes and fees are viewed very differently by both parties, as well as how the state should handle healthcare, and very specifically, Medicaid expansion.

In addition, the party in power after this year's legislative races will be in charge of redistricting,decisions that would be in place for the next 10 years.

Democrats need to flip 4 seats in order for Republicans to lose control of the Senate with five seats needed to flip for Democrats in the state House in order to gain control.