The Week In Review and Looking Forward into Next Week
 The 2019 Long Session Continues
Now that the House and Senate have narrowed their list to 466 bills for consideration, the Senate’s continued focus this week was on developing their budget while the House spent time vetting bills that made crossover from the Senate.
Also this week, the State Board of Education Executive Committee met to consider various funding requests for the FAST NC hurricane relief fund. In addition, SBE Teacher Advisor and 2018 Teacher of the Year Freebird McKinney, attended the "Innovate2Educate" conference at UNC Wilmington, along with other NC education trailblazers. See below for pictures and more on that conference.
Next week, the Senate will continue crafting their version of the budget and both chambers will consider legislation that made crossover, along with other eligible bills. The link to the full explanation of what is still eligible to be filed without deadline is here.
Budget Process: Budget Handed Over to Senate
With crossover week now over, the Senate now turns its full attention to the budget. Senate Majority Leader and lead budget writer Sen. Harry Brown (R-Onslow) announced that the goal is to have the budget completed by the end of the month. The Senate plans to vote on their version of the budget the week after Memorial Day. Brown said that Senate budget subcommittee chairs began work on Wednesday of last week.
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Important Budget Resources:
- HB 966: 2019 Appropriations Act here.
- Committee "Money" Report - 2nd Edition here.
- Education Items in the Governor's budget here.
- Highlights of the NC Public School Budget 2019 here.
- NC State Board of Education Budget Response here.
- NC Department of Public Instruction #NC2030 vision here.
- Public School Capital Outlays Chart here.
- North Carolina School Finances website here.
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SBE Executive Committee Meets
On Thursday, the State Board's Executive Committee met alongside the Steering Committee of Florence Aid to Students and Teachers of North Carolina (FAST NC) to consider the Steering Committee's request to grant funds to applicants submitting and meeting established criteria for the latest application period.
The meeting agenda is available online here.
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Give Your Feedback on the SBE Statewide Plan
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The State Board's current statewide Strategic Plan will expire in June of 2020; however, revisions to the Plan are underway. The Strategic Plan is being developed by the Board who is engaging in gathering shareholder feedback to develop impactful statewide policy. The work involves:
- Research conducted
- Review and understanding of the state’s federally-mandated Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan
- SBE committee involvement to develop goals
- Issue sessions held at monthly Board meetings to clarify our goals and objectives.
To share your thoughts on the proposed Strategic Plan, please complete the following Google Form Survey by May 31: https://forms.gle/TdofA4djCoYfDM9a9
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Relevant Bills with Action
Bills Heard in the Senate/House Chamber or in a Committee This Week:
May 13-17
House Bills
- HB 667: Local Option Sales Tax Flexibility
Senate Bills
- SB 622: Tax Reduction Act of 2019
K-12 Public Education Bills that have become Session Law
- No K-12 Public Education Bills became Session Law this week.
LINK to all bills that are now Session Law.
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SB 219: Modify Teacher Licensing Requirements
SB 219 was approved by the Senate on Monday and would give teachers extended time to pass licensure exams. It would also allow certain teachers who have not yet passed the required exam to remain in the classroom with a 3-year non-renewable limited license. This would apply based on specific conditions related to teacher effectiveness. It would also require that the license be requested by the local school board and limits its use for continued employment of the individual at that local school administrative unit. This nonrenewable license is limited based on the Tier and size of the district. The bill made crossover and currently resides in the House Rules Committee.
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Highlighting NCVPS
HB 57: Create Term for Public Schs. & Codify NCVPS
North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) is the nation's second largest online public school program. The above bill would define “public school unit” and codify the NCVPS in statute. The language prescribes duties to NCVPS regarding access to and the provision of e-learning instructional opportunities for the standard course of study for high school graduation and for AP offerings.
NCVPS began offering programs in 2007 and has greatly expanded since then. NCVPS offers languages such as: Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, and German and has over 150 topic courses to select from. It also allows opportunities for participating middle schools to offer students a chance to gain high school credit. NCVPS courses utilize real-time collaborative tools, audio & video, blogs, and even virtual worlds.
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- 2019 Long Session link for bills impacting K-12 education.
- LINK to K-12 Public Education Bills that made Crossover.
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State Board Selfie of the Week
This week, 2018 NC Teacher of the Year (TOY) Freebird McKinney and 2018 Western Region TOY Julie Pittman participated in the "Innovate2Educate" conference at the Watson College of Education at UNC Wilmington. SBE Member James Ford also complemented the innovation sessions, including topics of discussion such as: Disrupting the education status quo by understanding our own identities, building relationships to increase our capacity, utilizing the student voice, and using the innovation process to solve problems of equity.
Special Guests at the conference:
- Brenda Berg, President and CEO of BEST NC
- Freebird McKinney, Burroughs Welcome Fund NC Teacher of the Year
- Representative Craig Horn, NC General Assembly
- James Ford, Southwest Education Region, State Board of Education
- Tabari Wallace, NC Wells Fargo Principal of the Year
See this article that recaps the highlights of the conference.
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May 20-24: Legislative Meeting Calendar
Monday, May 20, 2019
1:00 p.m.: Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee (PED)
2:00 p.m.: Senate: Session Convenes House | Audio
7:00 p.m.: House: Session Convenes Senate | Audio
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
ONLINE RESOURCES:
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
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:
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.
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