(RALEIGH) -- As Congress gets closer to a vote on President Obama's American Jobs Act, Democratic members of North Carolina's General Assembly are speaking out in favor of the bill. State Rep. Tricia Cotham said the money North Carolina would receive from the plan could be used for teacher salaries and important upgrades to schools in the state.

"These funds from the American Jobs Act will be used for emergency repairs and renovations to crumbling schools that we know affect all counties in North Carolina," said Cotham.

"We can start rebuilding and modernizing 35,000 public schools but more importantly so that we can begin to build and to mold our children so that they can take the next step and be the next leaders in our country," said State Sen. Eric Mansfield.

The John Locke Foundation has a differing opinion. The conservative think tank maintains that funding from the American Jobs Act would provide only a little over a year of compensation for teacher salaries in North Carolina.