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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, March 1, 2024
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Highlights
CBS17.com - Michael Hyland | Feb. 27, 2024: Lawmakers could change how North Carolina schools are graded - North Carolina’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt (R) pitched state lawmakers Monday on a plan to overhaul how schools are graded. Truitt’s proposal would replace the current system where schools get a single letter grade A through F, which is based 80 percent on standardized test scores and 20 percent on growth. Instead, she suggests schools receive four separate letter grades in: academics, progress, readiness and opportunity. The General Assembly is expected to consider the issue when it convenes in late April.
WPTF Morning Show | Feb. 28, 2024: AUDIO - Cathrine Truitt, the North Carolina State Superintendent has called for changes in North Carolina schools in conversations with lawmakers earlier this week, Superintendent Truitt joins the WPTF Morning Show to talk more in depth about these changes.
Carolina Journal - CJ Staff | Feb. 22, 2024: State’s highest court wrestles again with Leandro education funding issues
- The North Carolina Supreme Court heard 80 minutes of oral arguments Thursday in the 30-year-long education funding case commonly known as Leandro.
- State legislative leaders are asking the court to void a series of lower court orders that led to a $677 million mandate for additional state education spending.
- Plaintiffs in the case argue that lawmakers are engaging in "obfuscation" and "recalcitrance" that delay providing an adequate public education to students across the state.
ABC13 News - WLOS Staff | Feb. 27, 2024: $1.3M in grants will expand school breakfast access to more than 51,000 NC students - The 42 grant awardees include school districts and charter schools statewide, from Cherokee County Schools in the west to Tyrrell County Schools in the east. Funds will be used to purchase kitchen equipment to increase meal prep capacity and serving equipment to more easily and efficiently distribute meals to students. Some programs have already started, and others will begin in the next school year.
Throughout the month of January NCDPI hosted a series of NC TWC webinars. The links to those webinars can be found here.
- NCDPI will continue to host NC TWC office hours every Thursday from 4-5 pm through March 29. Join office hours here.
As a reminder for TWC Coordinators, if you have not already done so, please confirm or update your school's expected survey count. If you have questions about this, please email NCTWC@dpi.nc.gov.
The February edition of Superintendent Truitt's parent newsletter, Coffee with Catherine, went out last week.
- Check out the most recent newsletter here.
To sign up for the newsletter, click here and enter your email address. When prompted, select "Superintendent Truitt's Parent Newsletter
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State Board of Education March Meeting
Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here - Select Legislative Updates.
Charter School Review Board - March Meeting
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Monday, March 11th and Tuesday, March 12th
The 2024 North Carolina Charter School Application is now open, as of Friday, January 26th at 5 pm Eastern. The 2024 charter application window will close on April 26, 2024, at 5pm Eastern. Applicants who are interested in opening a charter school in 2025 under the accelerated timeline, or in 2026 under the standard timeline must submit their charter applications on or before the April 26, 2024 application close date.
Both the online application and $1,000 application fee must be submitted on or before April 26, 2024 at 5pm Eastern. Applicant boards will be expected to appear in-person for interviews at the Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh, NC that will commence during the monthly meetings of the Charter Schools Review Board meeting beginning September 2024.
For questions about the charter application process, please reach out to Melanie.Rackley@dpi.nc.gov.
The link to the 2024 NC Charter School application is posted on the NCDPI Charter Schools Application page found here.
A free webinar on starting a charter school is being hosted by the NC Association for Public Charter Schools on March 7th at 7pm. Register through this link.
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DATE & TIME: Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 10:00 AM
LOCATION: 643 LOB
PRESIDING: Representative Tricia Cotham, Co-Chair
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Teacher Compensation: State-Funded Bonuses and Supplements
DATE & TIME: Monday, March 11, 2024, at 1:00 PM
LOCATION: 643 LOB
PRESIDING: Representative John Torbett, Co-Chair
Link to Committee on Education Reform meetings - HERE
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School Performance Grades
- Catherine Truitt, Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Dr. Michael Maher, Deputy Superintendent of Standards, Accountability, and Research
- Dr. Andrew Smith, Assistant State Superintendent of the Office of Innovation
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Charter School Funding
- Alexis Schauss, Chief Financial Officer, Department of Public Instruction
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Local Perspective
- Dr. Aaron Woody, Superintendent, Asheboro City Schools
Discussion items covered during the meeting:
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School Performance Grade Redesign - February 26, 2024
Charter School Funding
Bills eligible to be filed in 2024 with no deadlines:
(1) Redistricting bills for House, Senate, Congress, or local entities.
(2) Ratification of amendments to the Constitution of the United States.
(3) Resolutions pertaining to the internal affairs of the House or adjournment resolutions.
(4) Bills introduced on the report of the House Committees on Appropriations, Finance, or Rules.
Filing Deadlines:
- Bills affecting the State Budget
- Bill Drafting Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Monday, April 15, 2024
- Introduced in the House or Senate Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Thursday, May 2, 2024.
- Bills affecting any State or local pension or retirement system
- Bill Drafting Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Monday, April 15, 2024
- Introduced in the House or Senate Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Thursday, May 2, 2024.
- Bills and Resolutions from Select or Study Committees
- Bill Drafting Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Monday, April 15, 2024
- Introduced in the House or Senate Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
- Local Bills
- Bill Drafting Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Monday, April 15, 2024
- Introduced in the House or Senate Deadline: 4:00 P.M. Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
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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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Education Articles and Briefs
EdWeek - Sarah Schwartz | Feb. 23, 2024: Schools Prioritize Reading Intervention. But What About Math? - The tendency for math to take a backseat to reading shows up both in policy and, historically, in public perception. Over the past decade, 37 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation or taken other measures requiring that schools shift to evidence-based reading instruction, often mandating interventions for struggling students. Only seven states have passed similar legislation in math recently. “Math, on both the assessment side and the intervention side, has always lagged behind reading,” said Ben Clarke, a professor of school psychology at the University of Oregon, who studies math assessment and instruction.
EdNC - Chantal Brown | Feb. 26, 2024: Honoring 60 North Carolina Black educators for contributions to students - “North Carolina is a stronger state thanks to the tireless work of our Black educators, and I am grateful for the ways each of them have stepped up over the course of their careers to help our students and communities,” Cooper said. “When we have diverse teachers in our classrooms, all of our students benefit.” More information about the commission and honorees can be found here.
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The North Carolina Alliance of Black School Educators (NCABSE) will host its first annual statewide conference March 8-9, 2024 in Charlotte. The theme of the conference is "Leading Change and Embracing Innovation: Focusing on Accountability, Evidence of New Mindsets, Positive Results and Improved Student Achievement."
The conference is open to superintendents, principals, school board members, teachers, instructional coaches, curriculum staff, students, parents and community members.
Learn more about the conference and register here.
The Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration has just released a Grant Sustainability guide that is designed to support districts and schools in navigating the landscape of available funding opportunities following the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program.
This guide aims to empower program leaders by offering insights into various grants that can sustain and bolster initiatives initially funded through ESSER. Through clear, accessible information and curated links to relevant resources, this guide equips educators with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify suitable funding avenues and maximize the impact of their programs. Moreover, it provides practical examples illustrating how these grants can be strategically utilized to ensure the continuity of programming.
If you have questions about how you might apply for any of these grants to sustain ESSER-funded programming in your PSU, please reach out to our team at olr-esser-support@dpi.nc.gov.
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Launched in 2022, Accelerate’s Call to Effective Action (CEA) supports models of tutoring and individualized instruction that demonstrate the potential to deliver cost-effective services on a large scale to improve outcomes for students, particularly those in historically underserved communities.
Learn more HERE.
Examples of what CEA applicants will demonstrate:
- Tutoring providers (nonprofit and for-profit)
- Public school districts, public charter schools, and charter management organizations
- Colleges and universities
- Support organizations (nonprofit and for-profit), such as education intermediaries, organizations building data infrastructure, and citywide collaboratives
- Research firms, university-based researchers, and individual researchers
There are three types of grants available in 2024:
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Innovation Grants (up to $150,000 each) are available to scalable tutoring models that have been successfully piloted but do not yet have preliminary evidence of impact on student outcomes
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Promise Grants (up to $250,000 each) are available to scalable, established tutoring models that have prior evidence suggesting positive effects on student outcomes
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Adoption Grants (up to $350,000 each) are available to scalable, established tutoring models that have prior evidence of causal program impact on student outcomes
Accelerate will offer office hours for technical assistance in February; information on these hours can be found here.
Early applications are encouraged. We invite applicants to submit by the priority deadline on March 1, 2024. Priority deadline applicants will receive early feedback on their submissions and have the opportunity to revise and/or submit additional information based on this feedback.
All applications must be received by March 15, 2024
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21st Century CCLC Notice of Intent DUE TODAY!
The notice of intent for the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant is due Friday, March 1st. This is a simple form that indicates your intention to apply for the grant so that the 21st Century CCLC team secures enough grant reviewers for the applications.
Please note that the notice doesn't obligate a PSU to apply; it simply indicates interest. Complete this notice if your PSU is interested in applying for this grant.
This is an excellent grant opportunity that could be used to sustain out of school time (OST) programming in addition to summer programming. We have outlined some ideas for sustainability for this grant in our Grant Sustainability Guide. The guide also provides an overview of the requirements and a link to the full RFP.
If you have any questions about the 21st CCLC competition, please contact Wendy Buck at wendy.buck@dpi.nc.gov or Areli Perez at areli.perez@dpi.nc.gov .
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These competitive grants are intended to support North Carolina districts and schools as they address challenges, harness opportunities and leverage resources for digital-age teaching and learning.
- Up to $50,000 for ONE YEAR for Traditional PSUs or Up to $25,000 for ONE YEAR for Charter, Regional, and Lab Schools.
- Up to $95,000 for THREE Years for Traditional PSUs or Up to $30,000 for THREE Years for Charter, Regional, and Lab Schools.
The window for the request for proposals for the grants opened December 7, 2023 and will close with a March 4, 2024 deadline.
The materials related to the Request for Proposals are available on the Digital Teaching and Learning website for detailed information about this grant opportunity and submission guidelines.
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Grant writing support sessions will be offered from the time grants are open till grants close.
For more information about the DLI Grants, contact:
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The Golden LEAF Colleges and Universities Scholarship application for the 2024-2025 academic year is now available at CFNC.org. A total of 215 awards will be offered to first-time recipients from qualifying rural counties. Applications are due March 1, 2024.
The awards are valued at $14,000 ($3,500 per year for up to four years) for North Carolina high school students attending a participating North Carolina college or university. North Carolina community college transfer students can receive $3,500 per year for up to three years.
To be eligible, students must be a graduating North Carolina high school senior or a currently enrolled North Carolina community college transfer student, enrolling full-time in the fall at a participating North Carolina public or private college or university. Recipients are selected based upon multiple factors including an intent to return to a rural North Carolina county after graduation. Applicants must also fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and demonstrate financial need as determined by the application process; have a cumulative GPA of no less than 2.5; and be a resident of a rural North Carolina county that is economically distressed. Click here for the full list of eligible counties.
The Golden LEAF Scholarship Program is administered by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority and funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation. A complete list of program requirements, participating campuses and qualifying counties can be viewed at CFNC.org. Call 1-800-700-1775, Ext. 4658 or send an email to information@ncseaa.edu, for more information.
Students awarded the Golden LEAF Scholarship to attend North Carolina colleges and universities are also eligible to participate in the Rural Internship Initiative. The initiative allows scholars to participate in paid internships in their career field of interest, while strengthening connections and opportunities in a rural North Carolina community.
For more information about the Golden LEAF Scholarship Program, visit Scholars.GoldenLEAF.org.
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NCSECU Foundation Scholarship SECU Foundation takes an active role in assisting communities across North Carolina because we believe in “People Helping People®.” To support this commitment, the People Helping People scholarship was established to help North Carolina public high school students attend college.
The Application Process opened on December 1st. Please share this scholarship opportunity with your high school guidance counselors and deans to promote this scholarship opportunity.
Applications will close on March 5th, 2024, with selection interviews starting March 22nd, 2024. All final nominations are due to Dr. Natasha Norins by March 5th via email with PDF attachments from applicants.
For further assistance, please contact Dr. Natasha Norins, natasha.norins@dpi.nc.gov.
myFutureNC convened representatives from K12 education, higher education, government, business and industry, faith-based organizations, and philanthropy to present the 2024 State of Educational Attainment with a regional and county-level focus. Participants at each location reviewed myFutureNC’s legislative priorities for the new year and forecasted solutions to help us achieve the state’s educational attainment goal of 2 million degrees or industry-valued credentials by 2030 among North Carolinians aged 25-44.
On April 17th, the Commission, along with states, communities, and schools will honor military students.
Our Purple Up! Toolkit is ready and has all you need to promote Purple Up! for Military Kids. The toolkit includes letter templates, celebration ideas, posters, social media posts with captions, and more to show your support.
Be sure to tag MIC3 on X, Instagram, and Facebook @MIC3Compact! Use - #MIC3Compact #purpleup4militarykids to be featured. Email any event highlights and pictures to mic3info@csg.org | Read More
UPCOMING EVENTS: Compact 101 Training - Wednesday, March 20, 8 PM ET - Register Here
Website: Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission (MIC3)
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DPI Financial Business Services (FBS) - Check FBS homepage regularly for updates.
North Carolina Alliance of Black School Educators (NCABSE)
North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE)
North Carolina Education Corps - We bring together community members to support students and accelerate learning. You can help. Tutor with NC Education Corps
North Carolina Music Educators Association (ncmea)
North Carolina PTA - every child. one voice. (ncpta)
North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals' Association (ncpapa)
North Carolina School Boards Association (ncsba)
North Carolina School Superintendents' Association (ncssa)
North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority - Explore K12 Funding - (NCSEAA)
NC STEM Center - The NC STEM Center is a Web Portal for All Things Related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education in North Carolina.
myFutureNC - Statewide nonprofit organization focused on educational attainment and is the result of cross-sector collaboration between North Carolina leaders in education, business, and government.
Public Agenda - Teachers in the News
Public School Forum of North Carolina: 2022 Education Policy Primer | 2023 Conference Budget Analysis
The Story of North Carolina - Resources that reach across time periods, making connections throughout North Carolina history.
United States Capitol Historical Society: We the People Hub - Free Civic Education Resources
U.S. Department of Education - GRANTS
U.S. News & World Report - Best High Schools in North Carolina - To see how schools in the state’s top metro areas ranked, check out the pages for Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro and Durham.
Top Elementary Schools | Top Middle Schools | Top High Schools
IMPORTANT REMINDER
EDDIE (Educational Directory and Demographical Information Exchange) is the authoritative source for NC public school numbers and demographic information, is used by multiple NCDPI technology systems including: Accountability, PowerSchool, NC School Report Cards, and is used to meet federal reporting requirements.
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LEAs and charter schools are responsible for ensuring their data in EDDIE are complete, accurate, and current. EDDIE is located at: http://apps.schools.nc.gov/eddie
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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