The Week In Review and Looking Forward into Next Week

Bills, Bills, Bills...

This week, NCGA education committees and leadership continued to dive into the Governor's budget proposal. Various education entities have been presenting information to the committees, as members continue to dissect necessary details to help inform decisions throughout the session. Bills continue to be filed and heard in committees, with a total of 178 bills impacting K-12 education filed this session. March 27^th is the House deadline to request non-Appropriations or Finance public bills. The NCGA Republican leaders announced their agreed upon General Fund budget cap of slightly over $24 billion for 2019-20 which represents a 3.45% increase over last year’s budget total. House and Senate budget writers will now fill in details in the coming weeks. The $24 billion figure would not include payments for the state’s debt service. 

Relevant Bills with Action

Bills Heard in the Senate/House Chamber or in a Committee This Week:  

    House Bills (Excluding School Calendar Flexibility Bills)

1. HB 56: Arts Education Requirement – Passed the House – Referred to Senate Rules 3/21/19
2. HB 125: GSC Revised Uniform Athlete Agents Act - Passed the House – Referred to Senate Rules  3/21/19
3. HB 182: Guilford Co. Bd. Of Ed/Nonpartisan Election - Re-referred to House Elections and Ethics Law 3/20/19
4. HB 200: Education Report Changes.-AB - Referred to House Rules 3/19/19
5. HB 263: Fill Vacancies/Modify 2018 Appointments
6. HB 266: School Annual Report Card - Referred to House Rules 3/19/19
7. HB 276: Modify Low-Performing School Definition - Referred to House Rules 3/19/19
8. HB 295: Prohibit Corporal Punishment in Public Schs - Referred to House Rules 3/19/19
9. HB 354: Modify Weighting/School Performance Grades -Referred to House Rules 3/19/19
10. HB 362: 15-Point Scale For School Performance Grades -Referred to House Rules 3/19/19

Senate Bills (Excluding School Calendar Flexibility Bills)

1. SB 230: Excused Absences for Military Children

See the 2019 Long Session link for bills impacting K-12 education for a list of all the legislation impacting K-12 public education and where they are in the legislative process.

Bills Filed/Assigned to Committees This Week: Week of March 18

House Bills (Excluding School Calendar Flexibility Bills)

1. HB 241: Education Bond Act of 2019
2. HB 375: Authorize Teacher-Gov't Emp'ee Housing/Bertie
3. HB 377: Reduce Testing
4. HB 381: School Construction & Broadband Investm’t Act
5. HB 386: Ensure Safety of School Drinking Water
6. HB 408: Expand Teaching Fellows Program
7. HB 411: Modify School Qual./Student Success Indicator
8. HB 428: (Companion Bill is SB 329): K-3 Reading and Literacy Improvement Act
9. HB 430: School Ethics Training & Finance Officers
10. HB 433: Economics & Financial Literacy Act
11. HB 434: Suicide Risk Ref./Mental Health/Teen Violence
12. HB 436: Expand Local Option Sales Tax for Education
13. HB 437: Education on the Holocaust and Genocide

Senate Bills (Excluding School Calendar Flexibility Bills)

1. SB 170: Expand Principal Bonus Multiplier Eligibility.-AB
2. SB 189  (Companion Bill is HB 275) CTE Pilot for Guilford Co. Schools
3. SB 230: Excused Absences for Military Children
4. SB 271: Durham Speed Device Pilot/School Zones
5. SB 279: School Calendar 3-Year Flex/Certain Systems
6. SB 295: NC HS Graduation as Evidence of Residency
7. SB 299: Funds for Tyson Family Learning Ctr./SPCC
8. SB 301: Regional School Transportation
9. SB 303: State Emps./No Payroll Dues Deduction
10. SB 318: Parents' Right to Know
11. SB 319  (Companion Bill is HB313): Modify Weighting/School Performance Grades
12. SB 329  (Companion Bill is HB 428): K-3 Reading and Literacy Improvement Act
13. SB 333: Sudden Cardiac Arrest Task Force
14. SB 336  (Companion Bill is HB 124) Smart Start Funds
15. SB 340: NC Skills-Gap Study
16. SB 341  (Companion Bill is HB 135) Government Immigration Compliance
17. SB 343: Changes to Education Reports

Budget - Education Highlights

Where Are We In the Process? On Tuesday, March 12 during a Joint House and Senate: Appropriations, Education Committee meeting, the Governor’s budget for Fiscal Year 2019-21 was presented by the Office of State Budget and Management (View presentation here).     On March 13, 2019, agency responses to the Governor's Budget were given during the Joint House and Senate: Appropriations, Education Committee by the NC Community College System, the University of North Carolina System (UNC), and NC Independent Colleges and Universities.    During Thursday, March 14th's meeting of the Joint House and Senate: Appropriations, Education Committee, SBE (Chair Eric Davis) gave the Board’s response to the Governor's Budget and Superintendent Johnson presented budget items tied to his 2030 vision.   On Wednesday, March 13 during the House Committee on Appropriations, Capital, Rep. John Hardister presided over a discussion relating to "An Overview of the State's Debt and Capital."  The total ending balance for Public School Capital Outlays was broken out by LEAs and outlined in the chart here.   Important Budget Resources: Education Items in the Governor's budget here.  Highlights of the NC Public School Budget 2019 here.

Corporal Punishment in Schools A bill introduced in the House this week by Rep. Susan Fisher (D-Buncombe) would ban corporal punishment in NC public schools, making North Carolina the 32nd state to do so. HB 295 would remove corporal punishment, such as paddling and hitting, from state law and specify permissible forms of discipline in public and charter schools. HB 295 unanimously passed House K-12 Education Committee on Tuesday.

Arts Education HB 56, an arts education bill sponsored by Rep. Jeffrey Elmore (R-Alexander, Wilkes), passed the House and first reading in the Senate and has now been referred to Senate Rules and Operations. The bill would require students to take at least one arts-education class anytime between the sixth and twelfth grade prior to graduation.  SBE would be required to establish the criteria for meeting the arts education graduation requirement. Classes would fall into one of three categories: arts education, arts integration, or arts exposure.    This now marks the fifth time a bill requiring an arts education class requirement has been submitted in the legislature. Previous bills have not been able to advance past the Senate.

School Performance Grades This week, the House K-12 Education Committee discussed the state’s school performance grades. The two main bills focusing on school performance grades received a favorable vote from committee members and will now go to the House Rules Committee. The bills are HB 354, which would change the weighting of the school performance grade indicators, and HB 266 which would modify the school performance grades so that each school gets a separate grade for academic achievement and academic growth. Some lawmakers have long advocated for academic growth playing a bigger part in the grades because they say it is a more effective indicator of how well teachers are doing their jobs. Many argue that growth is essential to how much a student learns in a year, whereas academic performance measures how well students do on standardized tests.

House School Safety Committee Reauthorized On Thursday, House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) announced that the House Select Committee on School Safety would be reauthorized with Reps. David Lewis (R-Harnett) and John Torbett (R-Gaston) reappointed as co-chairs. The committee will continue to collect input from experts in the subjects of education, law enforcement, mental health, etc. to study best practices and the security of educational communities.

Cleaning Up Lead in NC Schools Rep. Harry Warren (R-Rowan), proposed a bill this week that would require NC to begin testing school districts for lead in their water. HB 386 would provide $8 million in grants to help pay for the tests. The test outcomes would then be ordered to be shared with the state and public.

School Calendar Flexibility   Overview:  This week, lawmakers filed 1 more school calendar flexibility bill, bringing the total number of SCF bills to 57 for this session.    Under current state law, North Carolina school districts are prohibited from starting the school year earlier than the Monday closest to August 26 and ending it later than the Friday closest to June 11.   School Calendar Flexibility bill filed this week:   HB 405: School Calendar Flexibility/Robeson County Sponsor: Graham County: Robeson

Bills to be Heard in Committee Next Week (Week of March 25): 

House: Rules on Monday, March 25                       Room  1228/1327 LB | Audio

• H79: Academic Alignment/Boards of Education & CC.
• H200: Various Education Changes.
• H266: School Annual Report Card.
• H276: Modify Low-Performing School Definition.
• H295: Prohibit Corporal Punishment in Public Schs.
• H354: Modify Weighting/School Performance Grades.
• H362: 15-Point Scale For School Performance Grades.

House: Education - K-12 on Tuesday, March 19            Room 643 LOB | Audio

• H107: PED Oversight/EPP Changes.

• H275: CTE Pilot for Guilford Co. Schools.

• H315: Instructional Material Selection.
• H340: Amend Appt For Compact on Education/Military.
• H377: Reduce Testing.

Senate: Education/Higher Education                               1027/1128 LB  Audio

• S134: Economics & Financial Literacy Act.
• S189: CTE Pilot for Guilford Co. Schools.
• S293: Military Dependents/Need-Based Private School.

*The NCGA Calendar is at the bottom of the update. 

Wolfpack WORKS On Wednesday, March 27, presentations will be given to members of the Joint Committee on Appropriations, Education. Topics will include NCCCS Career Coaches, College Advising Corp, and Wolfpack WORKS.   N.C. State’s College of Education announced Monday that its Wolfpack WORKS reading initiative had received a three-year, $12.3 million grant from DPI. The money will allow N.C. State to expand upon the work that it began last year- training beginning K-2 teachers in multiple North Carolina school districts.

2019 Long Session link for bills impacting K-12 education.

Legislative Calendar

Monday, March 25, 2019 

     2:00 p.m.: Session Convenes (Senate)                                                                            Senate | Audio

     3:00 p.m.: House: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House | 1228/1327 LB | Audio                

Tuesday, March 26, 2019 

     8:30 a.m.: Senate: Joint Appropriations on Education/Higher Education | 423 LOB

                      Presentations: Advanced Teaching Roles, Muddy Sneakers            

     1:00 p.m.: House: Education - K-12 | 643 LOB | Audio                                                                                                                             

                      H107: PED Oversight/EPP Changes.

                      H275: CTE Pilot for Guilford Co. Schools.

                      H315: Instructional Material Selection.

                      H340: Amend Appt For Compact on Education/Military.

                      H377: Reduce Testing.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019 

      8:30 a.m.: Senate: Joint Appropriations on Education/Higher Education | 423 LOB

                      Presentations: NCCCS Career Coaches, College Advising Corp, Wolfpack WORKS

   11:00 a.m.: Senate: Education/Higher Education | 1027/1128 LB  Audio

                      S134: Economics & Financial Literacy Act.

                      S189: CTE Pilot for Guilford Co. Schools.

                      S293: Military Dependents/Need-Based Private School.

Thursday, March 28, 2019 

     8:30 a.m.: House and Senate: Appropriations, Education (Joint) | 423 LOB

                      Presentations: UNC Lab Schools, Communities in Schools

North Carolina General Assembly 

ONLINE RESOURCES:

• Highlights of the NC Public School Budget 2018
• DPI/SBE Reports to the General Assembly
• About the Legislature
• Who Represents Me?
• How a Law is Made
• House Member List
• Senate Member List
• North Carolina Constitution
• House Page Program
• Senate Page Program
• Governor’s Page Program
• Youth Legislative Assembly
• Educational Resources
• An Introduction to the NC General Assembly – Elementary School Ages
• NC Government – Middle School Ages

Legislative Info and Acronyms  This section includes details pertaining to acronyms and bill information referenced throughout the K-12 Education Legislative Update newsletters.   Biennium- A two-year term of legislative activity Public Bill- Legislation enacted into law that applies to the public at large Local Bill- Legislation put into law that has limited application (How many counties)- Local bills do not have to be signed by the governor Sponsor- The legislator who presents a bill or resolution for consideration Resolution- A document that expresses the sentiment or intent of the legislature or a chamber. Resolutions, when finalized, go to the Secretary of State   Glossary of Legislative Terms- LINK   DPI = NC Department of Public Instruction LEA = Local Education Agency NCGA = North Carolina General Assembly LB/LOB = Legislative Building/Legislative Office Building  SBE = North Carolina State Board of Education   AB = Agency Bill HB/SB = House Bill/Senate Bill JR = Joint Resolution SL = Session Law GS = General Statute  PCS = Proposed Committee Substitute  FY = Fiscal Year

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Cecilia Holden  – Director of Government and Community Relations |  919-807-3406
• Anne Murtha  –  Legislative Specialist  |  919-807-3403
• Greear Webb – Legislative Intern

To view previous 2019 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.