RALEIGH — Gov. Bev Perdue says her effort to generate revenue for public education through a temporary sales tax has the support of more than 50 North Carolina mayors.

Perdue rolled out Wednesday a letter signed by mayors from the coast to the mountains saying something must be done to counter education spending cuts in the budget approved by the Legislature last year. The mayors include Wilmington’s Bill Saffo and Bill Bell of Durham.

The open letter makes no specific mention to Perdue’s proposal unveiled last week to increase the sales tax by three-quarters of a penny next year except to refer to “a fraction of a penny for progress.”

Republican legislative leaders oppose Perdue’s sales tax proposal and call it another ill-conceived solution of throwing money at public education problems.