Bill Filing Deadline Brings a Flood of New Bills |
This week and last were the bill filing deadlines for the House and Senate, respectively, though the House deadline was extended a few days and will now occur on April 10. Once filed, a bill must pass through the chamber where it was initially filed and “cross over” to the other chamber before the crossover deadline—May 8. As a result, in the past few weeks, both chambers have seen hundreds of new filings in addition to movement on bills filed earlier in the session. In the Senate, 283 bills were filed on March 25 alone bringing the total for the session to 760. Teacher pay increases have received bipartisan support as well as a boost in Governor Stein’s budget proposal. House Bill 192 (H192) “Raise Teacher Pay & Dollar Allot." would increase beginning teacher salaries to $50,000/year as well as salaries for more experienced teachers. It would also reinstate master’s pay and other education-based increases. Senate Bill 659 (S659) “Investing in North Carolina Act” also raises teacher pay substantially, reinstates master’s and other advanced degrees pay, and provides funds for salary increases for eligible state-funded employees including university employees, court, and state highway patrol officers. S649 "Restore Master's Pay for Teachers & ISP" is a stand-alone bill that reinstates master’s and other supplemental education pay for teachers and instructional support personnel (e.g. school counselors) while S433 "Restore Educator Longevity" focuses solely on longevity pay. Teacher recruitment may get a boost if S643 “Expand & Enhance the Teaching Fellows Program” makes it into law. The bill adds $1,000 to the annual grant amount and expands the program to all subject areas and all public and private universities that have approved educator preparation programs. H106 “Revive High-Need Retired Teachers Program” addresses teacher shortages by making it easier for teachers of high-need subjects to return to the classroom after retiring. Other school employees would get a boost via S434 "School Workers Fair Pay Act" which would raise the minimum wage for non-certified school employees (e.g. bus drivers) to $17. Shortages of school psychologists, social workers, nurses, and school counselors are addressed in several bills (e.g. S636, H523, & H588) through salary increases, internship programs, and making it easier for those with out-of-state licenses to work in North Carolina. |
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Continuing a theme that produced the Parents Bill of Rights (S49) last year, H636 "Promoting Wholesome Content for Students" adds requirements to traditional public and charter schools for identifying and tracking library materials. Public school districts would be required to create and maintain a public website with information about their guidelines for selecting media and which books/materials were rejected. In addition, the State Board of Education must maintain a publicly available database of the books/materials rejected by all public schools. H636 also establishes guidelines that public schools must follow when selecting library books. For example, the bill prohibits material intended for “any age or age group of children if it includes descriptions or visual depictions of sexual activity or is pervasively vulgar.” House Bill 636 also allows people to take legal action against the public school for violations of the Parents Bill of Rights and receive damages up to $5,000. However, another bill introduced this session—H492 "Repeal Parents' Bill of Rights"—repeals the Parents’ Bill of Rights. Another bill framed as parental rights—H595 “Parental Rights for Curriculum and Books”—requires written parental consent for any instruction about human development or sexuality. Currently, the Parents Bill of Rights prohibits gender identity or sexuality from being taught in grades K-4. H595 extends the prohibition through grade 6 and makes other substantive changes to the NC Standard Course of Study for health education. The bill sets out specific content allowed in courses but introduces some inconsistencies. For example, in grade 5, instruction must “summarize the functions of the male and female reproductive systems,” but must not include discussions of sexual activity. In seventh grade and above, the course content is even more specific. For example, instruction must teach “that abstinence from sexual activity outside of marriage is the expected standard for all school-age children” and that “a mutually faithful monogamous heterosexual relationship in the context of marriage is the best lifelong means of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.” Under the provisions of H595, community public libraries will be required to segregate materials identified as “harmful to minors” so they are not accessible to patrons under age 18. In addition, minors may be issued a library card only with a parent’s written consent and parents are authorized to access the library records of their children. Vouchers come under fire in several bills this session. S543 "State Auditor to Audit Private Schools" requires the state auditor to audit voucher-receiving private schools while S439 "Moratorium on Opportunity Scholarships" imposes a complete moratorium on new Opportunity Scholarship voucher spending and uses the savings to fund public schools. Another bill, S744 "Voucher School Accountability Act" adds accountability measures for private schools that accept state dollars that are similar to those for public schools. For example, the private schools would be required to conduct criminal background checks on staff, have at least 50% of its teaching staff be licensed teachers (same as charter schools), administer EOG and EOC tests, conduct an annual financial audit, and if the school receives more than $250,000 it must publish its expenditures in the Uniform Education Reporting System (used in NC to collect financial data for public schools). In addition, the private schools would be prohibited from discriminating in admissions on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or religion of any student or their family members. The private schools would also be prohibited from increasing the costs of tuition and fees by more than 5% in one year. This is just a sample of the bills filed this session. Upcoming newsletters will go into detail on others. Check out our Week in Review for a comprehensive list of the education-related bills introduced this year. |
Supreme Court Allows Federal Cuts to Teacher Training Grants |
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Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration's decision to cancel more than $65 million in teacher education grant programs across the nation could remain in place pending appeal. Several states had sued the Trump administration to keep the funding in place and lower courts had allowed the grant funding to remain in place while the case worked its way through the courts. The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision (Barrett, Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh voted in favor of the administration's appeal) was the result of an emergency request by the Trump administration to let the funding cuts move forward. "The programs at issue in the Supreme Court's ruling were created by Congress to recruit and train teachers to work in 'underserved' communities and to seek out educators from 'underrepresented populations' and 'who reflect the communities in which they will teach.'" READ MORE |
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Legislative and SBE Updates |
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| The legislative session continues on Monday. Keep an eye on the legislative calendar as changes occur frequently and the crossover deadline is coming up in a month (May 8). Read our Week in Review for a summary of legislative actions and the status of bills. NC Charter Schools Review Board meets Monday, April 7 at 9:00 a.m. (agenda). The meeting will be live streamed. |
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| BAD BILL HIGHLIGHT: S389 "Add Home Schools to Opportunity Scholarships" would allow home schools to receive state funds through the OS voucher program. Home schools have even fewer regulations or accountability measures than private schools, so this bill would send money to virtually unregulated entities. Parents/guardians who operate home schools are required to have at least a high school diploma or its equivalent and they must maintain accurate immunization and attendance records. The school must operate on a regular schedule for at least nine months each year, be identified as religious or non-religious, must administer a nationally standardized achievement test each year, and must keep test records for at least one year in case staff from the Division of Non-Public Education request to see them. All other academic and safety decisions are left up to the parent/guardian. The bill increases the OS fund reserve by $260 million annually to pay for home school students. |
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Celebrate National Library Week |
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| April 6 - 12 is National Library Week! National Library Week is an annual celebration highlighting the valuable role libraries, librarians, and the library workers play in transforming lives and strengthening our communities. It's also a great time to contact your legislators to share your support for school libraries and trust in the decisions librarians make about book selections. This year's theme is Drawn to the Library! Visit your school library and thank a librarian |
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Teaching Is Not a Sacrifice: It's Time to Change the Story |
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| By Dr. Amelia H. Wheeler, Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Instruction We’ve all heard the headlines: the teacher shortage is reaching crisis levels. But what if I told you this shortage isn’t just about low pay or pandemic burnout? What if it’s rooted in something much older and deeper—a cultural story we’ve been telling about teachers for over a century? In my new research, I argue that if we want to strengthen public education in North Carolina and beyond, we need to rethink how we understand teachers’ labor. Right now, we’re stuck in a myth—the “martyr teacher” myth. You’ve seen her in movies like Freedom Writers or heard about her in faculty meetings. She’s the endlessly selfless teacher who “does it for the kids” and never asks for more. We admire her. But we shouldn’t model our entire education system around her. This story has consequences. It justifies low pay, overwork, and impossible expectations. And it’s one of the reasons we’re losing so many passionate, experienced teachers. The research is clear: most teachers leave not because they don’t love the job, but because the job doesn’t love them back. A recent RAND Corporation study found that 73% of U.S. teachers report frequent job-related stress—more than double other professions. Nearly one in three reports symptoms of depression. Add to that a 14% pay gap compared to other college-educated workers, and it's no wonder that fewer people are entering the profession, and more are leaving it behind. READ MORE |
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| Did you know that for funding purposes, North Carolina caps the number of students with disabilities at 13% of students per district? A proposal from the NCDPI to state lawmakers would lift the cap so districts would receive funds based on the actual number of enrolled students with disabilities. Funds would be allocated based on need. Currently, districts receive about $5,300 per disabled student regardless of the severity of their need. Read more in our new fact sheet: The Facts about Special Education in North Carolina. |
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An Evening with Dr. Adrian Wood |
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| An Evening with Dr. Adrian Wood: Conversation and Book Signing May 19 from 5:30 pm to 7pm in Raleigh Join us for an evening with vlogger and author Dr. Adrian Wood, Tales of An Educated Debutante. Adrian will talk with us about her new book, Autism Out Loud: Life With A Child On The Spectrum, From Diagnosis to Young Adulthood. Adrian’s “Tales of An Educated Debutante” is her blog and “vlog” where she “offers personal glimpses where satire meets truth, faith meets irony, despair meets joy and this educated debutante escapes the laundry and finds true meaning in graceful transparency.” With lots of humor and honesty, Adrian shares her experiences as a mom of four and how her youngest child changed their family for the better. You won’t want to miss this fun event! Your $50 ticket includes a signed copy of Autism Out Loud. Refreshments and beverages included. Get your TICKETS HERE. We’re excited to offer a limited number of FREE tickets to public school educators. If you’re a teacher, please contact us at [email protected] for details. |
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| April 24, 7:00-8:30 pm: Resilience and ACES. Learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and resilience. Join us for this award-winning, 60-minute film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope. This documentary examines how abuse, neglect, and other adverse childhood experiences affect children’s development & health outcomes in adulthood. This powerful movie is a conversation starter and a perspective changer. REGISTER HERE |
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Words to Remember“Pragmatically, integration makes for stronger, healthier schools. It is an instrumental good that creates other goods, like student achievement, preparation for the real world, and community prosperity. But the foundation upon which integration rests is still the ideal of equality." — Karey Harwood, WAKE: Why the Battle Over Diverse Public Schools Still Matters, p. 71 |
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Help us support public schools!Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused solely on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents, teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each child for productive citizenship. |
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