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 State Board of Education Vision: Every public school student in North Carolina will be empowered to accept academic challenges, prepared to pursue their chosen path after graduating high school, and encouraged to become lifelong learners with the capacity to engage in a globally-collaborative society.
State Board of Education Mission: The mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is to use its constitutional authority to guard and maintain the right of a sound, basic education for every child in North Carolina Public Schools.
Friday, January 12, 2024
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Highlights
UNC System Press Release | Jan. 10, 2024: NC Teaching Fellows program launches district pilot recruitment initiative - The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Commission has selected 20 public school districts to receive $50,000 recruitment grants in 2024 to promote Teaching Fellows and the teaching profession. The Teaching Fellows program is a competitive, merit-based forgivable loan program providing tuition assistance of up to $10,000 per year for qualified students committed to teaching elementary education, special education, science, technology, engineering, or math in a North Carolina public school. The purpose of the program is to recruit, prepare and support future teachers who attend institutions of higher education in North Carolina.
WUNC 91.5 - Liz Schlemmer | Jan. 8, 2024: State education officials recommend changes to special education funding, services - The North Carolina General Assembly is asking state education officials to study ways to improve state funding and services for students with disabilities. The 2023 state budget requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to recommend changes to the state funding formula for special education. Right now, school districts receive a flat rate of $5,309 per student who qualifies for special education services.
The Carolina Journal - Theresa Opeka | Jan. 10, 2024: Council of State meets with new state auditor, examines academic progress, and request to raise homeowners’ insurance rates - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt said there is much to celebrate when it comes to academic recovery after the pandemic. She said that the 2022-23 school year saw academic recovery for nearly all grades in all subjects across all different subgroups of children, making it the second consecutive year of academic growth for those students. She also said that children in kindergarten through third grade are outpacing the rest of the nation in early foundational skills, and they are seeing the investments pay off in 3rd-grade end-of-grade test scores. They will continue to monitor and work with SAS about being transparent with students’ academic data, look at where work still needs to be done, and translate that into a legislative agenda in the upcoming short session.
NC Teacher Working Conditions (TWC) Survey Webinars
NCDPI has overhauled the NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey (TWC). The two main goals for revising the NC TWC include reducing the data collection burden on schools improving data quality and data use.
To get an overview of the new website, survey updates and process for data collection, register for one of the webinars below:
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District-level: Superintendents, PIOs, etc. (Jan. 16, 8-9 a.m.)
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School-level: NC TWC Coordinators, Principals, APs (Jan. 17, 4-5 p.m.)*
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Charter, lab, regional and residential schools: Jan. 18, 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
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NC TWC Open House for Teachers: Jan. 30, 4-5 p.m.
Please note that the webinars are capped at 500 participants, but will be recorded and shared.
- Due to interest levels, the school-level TWC webinar will have a new registration link to accommodate the amount of registrants. The new link will be sent to the relevant audiences and shared on our social media channels.
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State Board of Education February Meeting
Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here - Select Legislative Updates.
Charter School Review Board - January Meeting
The Youth Legislative Assembly (YLA) is a three-day program that allows students to draft, debate and vote on mock legislative bills while developing skills in research, interviewing, group facilitation and policy writing. The YLA will be held April 19-21, 2024.
YLA provides the opportunity for North Carolina’s youth to engage with peers from across the state in a structured, positive, youth-focused environment. The YLA program is open to students in North Carolina who are in good standing at a public, private, charter or home school.
For more information, please email YLA Coordinator erica.gallion@ncleg.gov or call 919-301-1372.
Learn more and apply here by January 16, 2024.
K-12 Education Bills - LINK
K-12 Ed Bills Eligible for the 2024 Short Session - LINK
Bills Eligible for Consideration by the General Assembly during the 2024
The Regular Session of the 2023 General Assembly adjourned October 25, 2023, and will reconvene on the following dates: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 12:00 P.M.; Wednesday, February 14, 2023 at 12:00 P.M.; Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at 12:00 P.M.; and Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 12:00 P.M. (S.J.R. 760).
The Short Session of the 2023-2024 legislative biennium will convene on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 at 12:00 P.M. See this MEMORANDUM for matters that may be considered for the 2024 Short Session.
K-12 Educaton Bills that have become Session Law
K-12 Education Bills with Action
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House Select Committee on Education Reform
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Useful Information
This section includes details pertaining to acronyms referenced throughout the K-12 Education Legislative Update newsletters.
For the glossary of education acronyms/terms click here.
DPI = Department of Public Instruction
SBE = North Carolina State Board of Education
LEA = Local Education Agency
PSU = Public School Unit
For the glossary of legislative terms click here.
NCGA = North Carolina General Assembly
LB/LOB = Legislative Building/Legislative Office Building
HB/SB = House Bill/Senate Bill
JR = Joint Resolution
SL = Session Law
GS = General Statute
PCS = Proposed Committee Substitute
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The submission period for the Purple Star Award is now open and will close February 1. Help honor those schools that go above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to military students and their families by encouraging them to apply.
For a full list of awarded schools, please visit this link.
Application
For questions on the application, please email Howard Lattimore.
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NCDPI is excited to offer an internship program designed to invite both undergraduate and graduate-level students pursuing degrees in public policy, public administration, education, communication, business management and related fields into the heart of a state government agency. All internships are paid internships. Interns can expect one-on-one guidance from agency staff, opportunities to meet with agency leaders, and the ability to contribute to the work of advocating for and supporting educators and students across North Carolina.
Internship applicants should specify their personal and professional goals in their application documents in order to best pair successful candidates with relevant projects and teams within the Department. Opportunities exist for internships in various fields and with a number of different work units, including opportunities in research, communication, data analytics, legislative affairs, and program management.
Interested candidates are encouraged to review the list of available 2024 summer internship opportunities prior to submitting an application. Learn more about internships at NCDPI and find the online application here.
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Education Articles and Briefs
The Carolina Journal - John Hood | Jan. 10, 2024: Opinion - Competition makes district schools better - North Carolina has experienced the country’s fifth-fastest rate of growth in private-school enrollment since 2020, according to state data collected by the Associated Press. Our charter schools are booming, as well, with enrollments shooting up at a faster rate than in all but two other states. Where does all this leave district-run public schools? They currently educate about three-quarters of North Carolina children. Even with rapid growth in charter, private, and homeschool enrollments, most of our kids will continue to be educated by school districts.
National Rural Education Association (NREA) Report: Why Rural Matters 2023: Centering Equity and Opportunity - The National Rural Education Association is proud to release Why Rural Matters 2023—the 10th in a series of reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers and others to address rural education issues in their respective states. This report is not simply an updating of data from earlier editions. This report comes in the wake of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted the rural United States in many and varied ways that we are only beginning to understand. Where does rural education currently stand, and where should we focus efforts on improving it? What specific populations within rural areas should policymakers and educators pay closer attention to?
Considering questions such as these, Why Rural Matters 2023 includes new indicators related to well-being and equity, and two special topic sections on the impact of the pandemic on rural areas and alignment of the report with the National Rural Education Association’s Rural Research Agenda.
Now Available: Why Rural Matters 2023
Education Week - Maya Riser-Kositsky | Updated Jan. 9, 2024: Education Statistics: Facts About American Schools- How many K-12 public schools, districts, and students are there? What does the American student population look like? And how much are we, as a nation, spending on the education of these youth? These data points can give perspective to the implications and potential impact of education policies.
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OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS CONTACT INFORMATION:
To view previous Weekly Legislative Updates click HERE.
The NC Department of Public instruction offers a number of topics for subscription.
To subscribe to other NC Department of Public Instruction topics, click here.
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