The Week In Review
 The General Assembly adjourned on
Tuesday, February 13th and is scheduled to reconvene on May 16th,
2018 to begin their short legislative session. A copy of the adjournment
resolution can be found here. Prior to their departure, the General Assembly passed HB 90 Changes to Education and Election Laws which addresses
the class size requirements legislation outlined in HB 13. This bill now
sits on the Governor’s desk for signature; however, the Governor's office has
stated that he will allow the bill to become law without him signing. Additional
details are outlined below.
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HB 90: Changes to Education and Election Laws
House Bill 90 was passed by the
General Assembly on Tuesday of this week and the Governor's office has stated
that he will allow the bill to become law without his signature. This complex
bill touches on many issues; however, only the first seven sections as
summarized below, apply directly to education.
- Part I - ACP/MOU/ADDITIONAL
FUNDING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Outlines how funding will be used that
may be received by the Governor through a Memorandum of Understanding with
the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC. Through this bill, the General Assembly
has allocated these funds toward improvement of education in the Local
Education Agencies through which the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will pass.
- Part II - CLASS SIZE PHASE IN:
Phases in the required implementation of class size caps that were
outlined in HB 13 Class Size Requirement
Changes. See the chart below for the gradual rollout of class size
caps.
- Part III - PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT
TEACHER ALLOTMENT: Provides funds for a position allotment for teachers of
program enhancement classes; 1 enhancement teacher per 191 students in K-5th
to include dance, music, theater, and the visual arts; physical education
and health programs; and world languages. In addition, this section
clarifies that dual language and program enhancement classrooms are exempt
from the class size limits.
- Part IV - ALLOTMENT TRANSFER
RESTRICTIONS: Although the bill restricts transfers from the enhancement
teacher funding allocation, this section identifies exceptions to the
restriction and provides details pertaining to flexibility that is
allowable with these new funds. This includes the hiring of
international teachers or other measures to be approved by the State Board
of Education.
- Part V - APPROPRIATIONS FOR
PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT TEACHERS: The General Assembly appropriates
$61,359,225 for K-5 program enhancement teachers.
- Part VI - CHANGES TO PERSONAL
EDUCATION SAVINGS ACCOUNTS: Streamlines the criteria for access to school
choice scholarships and adds language to allow partial scholarships for
children enrolled part-time in public school and part-time in non-public
school.
- Part VII - NC PRE-K STATUTORY
APPROPRIATION: Increases Pre-K recurring funding by $82M and $91M
beginning 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 respectively, an amount equal to the
3,000 students currently on the NC Pre-K waiting list.
Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the
North Carolina State Lottery
The Joint Legislative Program
Evaluation Oversight Committee’s 2015–17 Work Plan directed the Program
Evaluation Division to evaluate whether the North Carolina State Lottery is
providing the maximum benefit to the State by examining its operations,
existing revenue-generating strategies, and efforts to reduce costs. The
Committee met Thursday, February 15th during which Jim Horne,
Principal Program Evaluator of the Program Evaluation Division (PED), reviewed
the final report Options Exist for Increasing Proceeds for Education.
Mr. Horne informed the Lottery
Oversight Committee that Lottery sales in fiscal year 2017 were $2.4
billion. Of that amount, the proceeds to education were $622.5 million
which are used to help defray costs for school construction. Included below is
the graph from the presentation that shows the percentage of total funds for
education. PED also recommended that the Lottery give annual reports to the
General Assembly on the effectiveness of its advertising. Alice Garland,
Executive Director of the North Carolina Education Lottery gave this report of Online Instant Ticket Sales and
updated the committee on Keno Implementation. The committee also assessed
Michigan Online Lottery Instant Game Examples for ways to increase Lottery
revenues in North Carolina.
 Bobbie Cavnar Named Top Educator in the
Nation
Bobbie Cavnar, North Carolina’s
2016 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Teacher
of the Year and Gaston County South Point High School English and Journalism
teacher, has been named the top educator in the nation. Last week, Cavnar
received the 2018 NEA Member Benefits Award for
Teaching Excellence at the organization’s 49th annual Salute to Excellence in
Education Gala in Washington, D.C.. Cavnar, who has taught British literature
at South Point for about 15 years, also won $25,000 as the recipient of the
honor. Cavnar stated “I am certainly not the best teacher in this room, but I
want to tell you how thankful I am that I get to be the one who’s raised up to
represent what’s best about teaching.” Cavnar is making a
difference in and out of the classroom through his work with the North Carolina
State Board of Education, mentoring of fellow educators and the inspiration he
offers to his students through literature. This video shows Bobbie at work in his classroom
and this video shows him at the NEA Gala.
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See this link for a complete list of bills impacting K-12 education.
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Tuesday, February 20, 2018
3:00 p.m.: Social Services Regional Supervision and Collaboration Working Group (2017)|Online Meeting
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
9:00 a.m.: Joint Leg Study Cmte on Division of Local School Administrative Units 544 LOB | Audio
Thursday, February 22, 2018
10:00 a.m.: Joint Legislative Task Force on Education Finance Reform 544 LOB | Audio
ONLINE RESOURCES:
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:
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Cecilia Holden – Director of Legislative Affairs and Special Initiatives | 919-807-3406
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Anne Murtha – Legislative Specialist | 919-807-3403
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David Smith – Legislative Intern | 919-807-3407
To view previous 2018 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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