The Week In Review
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While last week at the General Assembly saw
legislators working fervently to advance their bills before the crucial
crossover deadline, this week was much more subdued. The hectic committee
schedule of the last several weeks gave way to a much lighter itinerary, with
only one committee meeting and few sessions. Moving forward, we hope to see a Senate budget released next week.
The biggest event came on
Wednesday when the General Assembly met in joint session to honor and
congratulate the UNC-Chapel Hill Men’s Basketball team on their victory in the
2017 NCAA National Championship. Head Coach Roy Williams addressed the
gathered lawmakers, emphasizing the importance of education to the future of
our state.
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State Board of Education
The list below includes the education bills covered during the Legislative Update Agenda Item of the May 4,
2017 State Board of Education meeting. The bills are ordered in alignment with
the State Board of Education 2017 Legislative Agenda Action Items. See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.
Action Item
#1. Paying our Talented Team:
Teacher
pay | Principal/Assistant Principal pay | Master’s and Doctoral pay |
Differentiated pay
S169 Teacher Excellence Bonus
Expansion
- Provides
for teaching excellence bonuses for certain teachers who would have
received a bonus but didn’t for a variety of technical reasons. LEAs
will be reimbursed if they already paid these out.
Action Item
#2. Enhancing the Skills of the Team
Principal
Preparation | Professional Development/Educator Effectiveness | Invest in
students’
behavioral
support services
S599 Excellent Educators for
Every
Classroom
- Establishes
the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission to
establish high standards for educators. Recommendations will be submitted
by the Commission to the SBE who may adopt or reject for the Commission to
resubmit revised standards.
- Authorizes
the expansion of educator preparation programs and creates a system that
holds all programs accountable, to reorganize and clarify the educator
licensure process, and to ensure availability of information on teacher
vacancies occurring in NC public schools.
- Replaces
Lateral Entry with Residency Licensure which requires a Bachelor’s degree
for entry to educator prep programs and requires training on the front-end
of entry for professional hires vs. over 3-year timeframe. Currently
8000 Lateral Entry teachers in NC, including Troops to Teachers.
H634 Private Alternative Teacher
Preparation
- Directs
SBE to approve private alternative teacher prep programs for lateral
entry. Currently only State Board of Community Colleges and NC Independent
Colleges and Universities, Inc. are authorized to provide lateral entry
program of study.
H90 Eliminate NC
Final
Exam
- Eliminates
use of the NC Final Exam and analysis of student work to assess teacher
performance and professional growth as part of the North Carolina Teacher
Evaluation System.
- Eliminate
requirements related to student growth expectations in qualifying teachers
to serve as mentors and clinical educators.
H235 Teacher Mentor
Qualifications
- Changes
the minimum rating of mentor teachers from "accomplished" to "proficient".
- Accomplished: teacher
exceeded basic competence on standards of performance most of the time.
- Proficient: teacher
demonstrated basic competence on standards of performance.
H339/S252 North Carolina Teaching
Fellows
- Re-establishes
NC Teaching Fellows Program to provide forgivable loans to students
preparing to be licensed teachers in STEM or special education. Scholarship
loan program to attract top students into STEM and special education
fields at low-performing schools.
S461/H532 Modify UNC Laboratory
Schools
- Modify
the governance and operation of UNC Laboratory Schools.
- Increases
the # of lab schools from 8 to 9 or more.
- Establishes
a Board of Governors subcommittee on LAB Schools.
Action Item
#3. Investing in what Works
Whole
School, Whole Community, Whole Child model | Pre-K & Early Childhood
Education |
Calendar
flexibility | Medicaid reform | Compulsory School Age
H285 Suicide Prevention/Awareness
School Personnel
- Provide
for a training program on youth suicide awareness and prevention and a
risk referral protocol for school personnel. 2 hours of training every 2
years. Alignment on the schedule with our current SBE policy on mental
health training may be appropriate.
H389 School Calendar Flexibility
Pilot
Program
- Direct
the SBE to establish a School Calendar Flexibility Pilot Program to
determine the impact of school calendar flexibility for opening and closing
dates on student achievement and summer internships and to identify and
quantify the communities that can support local school calendar control and
those that cannot. Data from Pilot will be used to determine any
negative impact on Commerce travel and tourism in the area.
H556 Study Early Childhood
Education
-
Study
bill: Establish the Office of Early
Childhood Education housed administratively in DPI but it would exercise
its powers independently of DPI.
H779 Charter School
Changes
- Allows
30% enrollment growth without material revision of the charter. Does
not apply to low-performing Charter schools.
H800 Various Changes to Charter
School
Laws
- Priority
enrollment for employees of charter partners.
H806 Student Notice/Charter
School Closure/Restructuring
- Require
a student and family fair notice and an impact statement prior to the
closing or restructuring of a charter school.
Action Item
#4. Adding more Talented Members to the
Team
Class
size allotments/budget provision | Mentor teachers | Teacher Assistants & Instructional
Support
Personnel | School Nurses/Child and Family Support Teams | Troops to Teachers
H13 Class Size Requirement
Changes
- Phase
in class size requirements, with statutory requirements becoming effective
for the 2018-2019 school year.
- Requiring
biannual reports on teacher allocation and class size.
- Requiring
notice to Joint Leg. Commission on Gov Ops on class size waivers granted
by SBE.
- Requiring
timely corrective action by local boards when waivers for class size are
not granted.
- Requiring
local superintendents to submit sworn affidavits of compliance with the
statute with all quarterly reports.
- Lawmakers
have pledged to work on funding issues surrounding teachers in special
subjects such as art, music, drama and P.E. going forward.
H339/ S252 North Carolina Teaching
Fellows / Covered under Action Item #2
- Scholarship
loan program to attract top students into STEM and special education
fields at low-performing schools.
Program Evaluation Division’s study to analyze
the need for school nurses and how school nurses are funded. DPI and
DHHS participated and are in agreement mainly with recommendations for the
number of nurses and a consolidated entity to oversee & fully leverage Medicaid.
Action Item
#5. Enhancing the Classroom Experience
Public
School Capital Infrastructure | District & School Transformation |
Instructional Supplies |
Students
with Special Needs | CTE & CIHS | NC Check-Ins | Child Nutrition
H149 Students w/ Dyslexia and
Dyscalculia (dis cal kew lia)
- Require
SBE and local boards of education to develop tools to ensure
identification and intervention of students with dyslexia and dyscalculia.
Local boards to review tools and screening instruments for specific
disabilities and determine if additional tools are needed.
S603 Exceptional Education for
Exceptional
Children
- Establish
the North Carolina Personal Education Savings Accounts Program to provide
the option for a parent to better meet the individual educational needs of
the parent's eligible child. Scholarships awarded can be used
for eligible expenses such as tuition, textbooks, etc.
H450 Future Ready Student Act of
2017
- Directs
LEAs to provide at least 2 work-based learning opportunities related to
career and technical education for students. Focus is on encouraging
high school students to participate in opportunities such as
apprenticeships and internships.
H495 Increase Textbook Funds &
Spending
Flex
- Increase
funding for textbooks and digital instructional resources, instructional
supplies, and equipment, and to allow LEAs the flexibility to spend these
funds on the resources they determine are most important.
- $35M
for 2017-18 and $35M for 2018-2019
H898 Digital Learning
Plan/Programs/Funds
- Provide
for additional goals for the implementation of the digital learning
plan to support NC public schools and to direct that certain funds be used
for this purpose.
S542/H866 Public School Bonding Act of
2017
- Statewide
ballot referendum of $1.9 billion for public schools.
H600 School Construction Flexibility
- Allows
LEAs greater flexibility to enter long-term lease agreements for the
construction of school facilities.
Action Item
#6. Supporting for Results:
A-F
School Performance Grades (ESSA) | DPI Expansion | Teacher Licensure |
Criminal
Background Checks
H117 Protect Students in
Schools
- Require
criminal background checks for public school personnel employment; provide
for written notice prior to suspending without pay a teacher who is
incarcerated or in custody; and require notification to SBE relevant
criminal history related to an educator's resignation.
- Chairman
Cobey sent letter to Senate and House Chairs on April 4, 2017 in support
of background checks to include SBE centralized oversight of
fingerprinting. Identified funding needed: $250K NR funds and
$140K recurring. Fingerprinting is not required in the bill.
H826 Modify Low-Performing School
Definition
- Modify
the definition of low-performing schools to be those schools that receive
a school performance grade of D or F and a school growth score of "not
met expected growth".
H87 ESSA Plan
Submission
- Directs
SBE & DPI to wait until the last permissible week to submit our ESSA
state plan to USED.
H322 School Performance
Grades
- Changes
formula to 50/50 growth/achievement.
H458 School Annual Report
Card
- Schools
would receive separate grades for achievement and growth.
Team Behind the Scene - State Board of Education Legislative
Team
Last week, we had the pleasure of
introducing you to our new Director of Legislative Affairs and Special
Initiatives, Cecilia Holden. This week, we would like to introduce you to
the other members of our legislative team at the State Board of Education, who
work hard to support Cecilia’s efforts at the General Assembly and to bring you
the weekly Legislative Update during session.
Cecilia K. Holden Robb Jansen
Anne R. Murtha
Director
of Legislative
Affairs Policy
Development
Analyst Legislative
Specialist
and Special Initiatives
As many of you are aware, legislative
sessions are often very fast-paced and the amount of legislation being
considered is voluminous. The work of our legislative team helps keep
education professionals apprised of legislative goings-on, while helping
Cecilia represent the interests of the public schools before the General
Assembly. We are grateful for all the work they do.
See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.
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Monday, May 08, 2017
3:00 PM Session Convenes (House) House Audio
4:00 PM Session Convenes (Senate) Senate Audio
ONLINE RESOURCES:
CONTACT INFORMATION:
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Martez Hill – Executive Director, State Board of Education | 919-807-3404
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Cecilia Holden – Legislative Director, State Board of Education | 919-807-4035
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Robb Jansen – Policy Development Analyst, State Board of Education | 919-807-3407
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Anne Murtha – Legislative Specialist, State Board of Education | 919-807-3403
To view previous 2017 Weekly Legislative Updates click here.
The NC Department of Public instruction offers a number of topics for subscription.
- To subscribe to the Weekly Legislative Update, click here.
- To subscribe to other NC Department of Public Instruction topics, click here.
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