The Week In Review and Looking Forward into Next Week
 School’s Out - General Assembly’s Gone
Labor Day Vacation While Hurricane Dorian Blows Over North Carolina's Coast
The General Assembly has been out of town this week while many schools have been closed due to the Labor Day holiday followed by the hurricane. Although Raleigh has been relatively quiet in the legislative buildings, action on various high profile bills has continued and the State Board convened for their September meeting.
Late Wednesday, the Governor signed SB 621 Testing Reduction Act of 2019 stating that "A reasonable assessment system that gives teachers and parents accurate information without sacrificing accountability should help children learn without over testing." Among other things, SB 621 - now Ch. SL 2019-212 eliminates the NC Final Exams and requires the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction to submit a plan by March 15, 2020 on how to use other means to accomplish the purposes for which data is collected by the NC Final Exam.
On Thursday of this week, the House appointed members to the conference committee for SB 522 Low-Perf. Schools/Stand. Student Conduct. This comes at a time when the State Board of Education has just received the Accountability and Testing results for 2018-2019 school year. Article 7A of Chapter 115C is the original legislation that created the North Carolina Innovative School District (ISD) and Innovation Zones and authorized the SBE to select qualifying low-performing schools to be transferred to the ISD to become innovative schools. SB 522 would modify the original legislation and the overview of these changes can be viewed in this previous version of the August 10, 2019 Legislative Newsletter.
The State Board of Education met Wednesday September 4th and Thursday September 5th. Board members received presentations and discussed a variety of topics. In addition to the Accountability and Testing results, other items that garnered significant interest included the release of the graduation rates, school start and end date reporting, educator preparation program accreditation, and policies governing services or children with disabilities. The agendas for these meetings and executive summaries are available online.
The General Assembly will return to Raleigh next week with their primary focus being that of redistricting and possibly continued movement on mini-budgets. The legislative calendar can be found here.
State Board of Education - September Meeting
The State Board of Education held their September meeting on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
Agenda and meeting materials can be found at these links:
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Important Budget Resources
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Mini Budgets that are now Session Law:
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Pending Mini Budgets in Committee:
- LINK to History of Budget Resources
2019 New K-12 Education Laws
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SL 2019-209: (HB 226) Pay Increases/State Employees: Appropriates funds for the 2019-2021 fiscal biennium to award public employee benefits increases and legislatively mandated salary increases to state employees. This includes DPI but doe not include employees of Local Boards of Education. Overview of this bill was covered in the 8.31.19 K-12 Education Legislative Update
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SL 2019-212: (SB 621) Testing Reduction Act of 2019: Reduces testing administered to students in public schools and to makes various technical and clarifying changes related to education laws. BILL SUMMARY Overview of this bill was covered in the 8.23.19 K-12 Education Legislative Update.
- List of New K-12 Education Laws and Chaptered Resolutions here.
- Complete List of Bills that are Session Law here.
For complete bill history and summaries, click on the bill link.
Education Bills Vetoed by the Governor This Session
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HB 966: 2019 Appropriations Act VETO Message
- Base budget appropriations for current operations of state agencies, departments, and institutions. Governor Cooper’s veto message states his disappointment in the budget based on differing priorities between the Governor and General Assembly.
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SB 392: Various Charter School Changes BILL SUMMARY VETO Message
- Makes various changes to the laws affecting charter schools. Governor Cooper’s veto message states his concern about the lift on enrollment caps for virtual charter schools due to the low performance of schools in this pilot.
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SB 438: Excellent Public Schools Act of 2019 VETO Message
- An act to modify the implementation of the North Carolina Read to Achieve Program in order to attain statewide reading proficiency by the third grade.
Complete List of Bills Vetoed by the Governor here.
K-12 Education Bills - Last Movement This Week
· Passed the House - Sent to the Senate
· Passed the Senate - Sent to the House
· Conference Committee
· Bills that are filed, referred to a committee or calendared for the House or Senate Floor
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HB 75: School Mental Health Screening Study (Re-referred to Senate Appropriations/Base Budget. If favorable, re-referred to Senate Rules on 9/06/2019)
· Presented to the Governor
- For complete bill history and summaries, click on the bill link.
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- 2019 Long Session LINK for bills impacting K-12 education.
- LINK to K-12 Public Education Bills that made Crossover.
- NCGA Crossover List - LINK.
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September 9 - September 13: Legislative Meeting Calendar
Monday, September 9, 2019
9:15 a.m.: Senate: Session Convenes Senate | Audio
4:00 p.m.: House: Session Convenes House | Audio
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
9:00 a.m.: House: Appropriations 643 LOB | Audio
11:00 a.m.: Senate: Appropriations/Base Budget 643 LOB | Audio
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
HB/SB = House Bill/Senate Bill
JR = Joint Resolution
SL = Session Law
GS = General Statute
PCS = Proposed Committee Substitute
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OFFICE OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONTACT INFORMATION:
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Cecilia Holden – Director of Government and Community Relations | 919-807-3406
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Anne Murtha – Legislative Specialist | 919-807-3403
OFFICE OF THE NC SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 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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