| NCATA Legislative Update April 12, 2019 |
| Update from Mr. Bryan Holloway: Things in the legislature have finally begun to pick up, and the House is beginning to do serious work on the budget with hopes of having it released by the end of April. We have made great progress with our priorities. Full Appropriations Chair Representative William Brisson and Representative Dana Bumgardner will be filing a bill to provide two more coordinators at North Carolina State University. Education Appropriations Chair Representative Jeffrey Elmore, who came to the fall conference, is working to help carry this bill across the finish line and place it in the budget. Rep. William Brisson has also agreed to assist with funding for the camp. Full Appropriations Chairs control capital provisions, and he is a strong advocate since the FFA camp is in his legislative district. In other education news, here is a brief summary of the Governor’s education budget, and other bills filed in the state legislature: he Governor’s Budget has a goal of raising teacher pay to the highest in the southeast over a four year period (Avg. 9.1% over two years) Reinstates experience pay for principals Provides 40 million for school safety and school mental health Provides 15 million for school security improvements Provides a 29 million increase in funding for textbooks and digital resources Provides 9 million for teacher recruitment Expands Teaching Fellows program by 5 million Proposed at 3.9 billion dollar bond proposal, giving 2 billion to public schools These are some of the major highlights. The entire budget can be read by clicking the hot link, The Governor’s Budget. House Bill 266: School Annual Report Card This bill filed by Representative Riddell changes the school report card by giving two grades instead of one grade. Schools would receive a performance grade and a growth grade. This would change the current law that combines performance (80%) and growth at (20%) to derive one grade. House Bill 276: Modify Low Performing School Definition This bill filed by Representative Riddell changes the definition of low performing schools so that a school that meets growth cannot be considered low performing.House Bill 216: School Self Defense Act & Senate Bill 192: School Security Act Though both bills are different, they are similar due to the fact they arm individuals in the school setting other than school resource officers. From discussions with legislators from both parties, these bills have a slim chance of becoming law. I’ll be back in touch before the month comes to an end to update you again. Bills are starting to move, and the House is picking up speed working on the budget. They go first in the legislative process this year. |
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