North Carolina Agriculture Teachers Association

Legislative Update from Bryan Holloway: June 18, 2019

The following is an overview of recent North Carolina General Assembly activity of interest to stakeholders of public education in North Carolina.
 
June 24^th, 2019
 
 
Budget Update
Budget negotiations continue at the state legislature to finalize the state budget. The larger ticket items include teacher salaries, state employee salaries, and the school bond proposal.
Many educators have also expressed concerns about the negative language in the Senate proposal concerning the Early College program (CIHS). NCATA is hearing good things about the Early College (CIHS) provision. NCATA has been working on this and feels that there is a good chance that will not happen, leaving the Early College program protected.
 
Finally, we continue to expect a veto by the Governor, and possibly a long summer of negotiations between the Governor and the Legislature. However, we could see the Legislature’s final proposal by the week’s end.
As a reminder, the coordinator positions at NC State University are finalized because they are in both versions of the budget. We continue to work to finalize the money for the camp at White Lake.
 
Update on the 15-point scale
 
H362 15 Point Scale for School Performance Grades
 
This bill has seen limited action this session but is important in how LEAs and Charter Schools measure school performance. Under previous legislative language, school reporting measurements would revert to the 10-point scale beginning in the Fall of the 2019-2020 school year. This bill, which will be heard by the Senate this week, would extend the 15-point scale for school grades, therefore continuing the current format.
 
 
 
Items seeing recent action
 
SB 399 Rehire High-Needs teachers
SB 399 will be heard by the House Rules Committee this week. As stated in the last Update, this bill would address critical teacher shortages in high needs schools in some districts by allowing limited flexibility to LEAs to re-hire recently retired teachers in certain areas (with specific rules regarding salary and without impact on retirement payments).
 
SB 227 Principal Fellows Consolidation
This bill moves to the Senate for concurrence. If approved, this measure would recommission the Principal Fellows program by establishing a competitive grant process to improve Principal preparation by offering loan forgiveness for successful completion of the program.
 
SB 366 10th Grade/College Transfer Pathways
SB 366 heads to the Senate for concurrence after receiving unanimous approval. As reported in the last update, this piece of legislation makes available the Career and Technical pathway to Sophomores and Freshman. In addition, this bill would offer further flexibility to LEAs and community colleges regarding those pathways for sophomore students who would be eligible to earn college credit for trades and work-related fields, thus expanding the current relationship between high schools and community colleges.
 

SB 219 Modify Teacher Licensing Requirements

If approved, SB219 would give LEAs more flexibility in recommending provisional licensure to certain candidates and current employees. This bill would continue to modify and expand licensure opportunities by seeking flexibility for LEAs at the local level and codifying the terms of a provisional license and the attainment process.

 
 
 
Items sent to the Governor
 
 HB 57 Create Term for Public Schs. & Codify NCVPS 
This bill has passed both chambers and now heads to the Governor for his signature. As referenced in our last edition, HB 57 concerns language specific to the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS). Some of our member’s contract with NCVPS and most schools offers NCVPS courses. HB 57 sets additional parameters for how NCVPS operates, offers staff development and develops teacher pay rates and criteria.
 
 
 HB 664 myFutureNC / Postsecondary Attainment Goal
HB 664 moves on the Governor for his signature. This bill sets goals for NC residents to attain post-secondary degrees with the ambition of having 2,000,000 North Carolinians having completed quality programs by 2030. In addition, the bill required progress updates, effective September 2020.
 

Legislative Update from Bryan Holloway: June 3, 2019

The North Carolina Senate approved their budget proposal on Friday, May 31st. The Senate proposal was significantly different from the NC House proposal, which focused heavily on teacher pay raises and a modified principal pay plan. The Senate budget has less money for teacher pay and does not include the House version of Principal and Assistant Principal pay proposals. Instead, the Senate budget allocates more money to state employees (average 5 percent raise over the next 2 years). Details are below. At this point, House and Senate leaders will confer and work to reach a compromise budget to send to the Governor. NCATA will continue to track the progress of the Budget Conference Committee over the coming weeks.

Highlights from the Senate Budget

Teachers
The Senate budget allocated monies to support an average 3.5 percent raise for teachers to be paid through 2020-2021. Also included is a onetime bonus of $500 dollars for teachers with 15-24 years of service and $1000 for teachers with 25 years or more of experience. This proposal does not benefit veteran teachers like the House proposal did (see link below to see the comparisons between budget plans).

Click  here for budget comparisons

School Psychologists
The Senate Budget includes $35.4 million of recurring dollars to hire 100 new school psychologists (1 for each district).

Principal and Assistant Principal pay
Under the Senate Budget, through 2020-2021, principals would receive an average of 6.2 percent increase in their salaries, and assistant principals would see an increase of 6.3 percent. This is similar to what the House Budget allocates, but it does not include the structural changes proposed by the House and generally supported by school administrators. Other than making pay tier adjustments for principals in the smallest and largest schools, the Senate budget plan makes relatively few changes to the existing pay structure for site-based school administrators.

Bonus Leave
The Senate Budget proposal does not address adding additional leave.

Retirees
The Senate Budget proposal does not include a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).

Full Senate Budget Report (see link below)

https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2019/h966

Teacher Information Needed for Conference

Hello! We hope you are doing well! 

If you did not complete information or a survey regarding NCATA Regional Teacher of the Year, Years of Service, Teacher of Teachers, Retiring, etc. at your Regional Inservice, then please take a moment to complete this Google Form. This information is needed to recognize our members for our NCATA Banquet coming up at CTE Summer Conference.

Thank you for your attention to this all important matter! We hope to see you at State Convention!

NC Ag Ed Family Trees

In preparation for the NCATA Conference in July, we’re working on updating our NC Ag Ed Family Trees. If you have the need for a new tree and/or need to update your tree, would you mind providing your information? Please provide your info by July 1.

The link is https://ncsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3aAP8H9F6lEVoW1

2019 NAAE Convention

This year’s NAAE Convention will be in Anaheim, California on December 3rd-7th! Our Regional Winners will be acknowledged AND amazing professional development is being created for you! Use this “slow” time of the year in December to pour back into your career- in order for you to better provide for your students.

3rd-7th! Our Regional Winners will be acknowledged AND amazing professional development is being created for you! Use this “slow” time of the year in December to pour back into your career- in order for you to better provide for your students.

Early Bird Registration has begun! Check it out before the prices increase in July.

Only during the annual NAAE Convention will you find professional development that will transform your agriculture classroom. Over 60 innovative learning sessions presented by agricultural educators for agricultural educators will invigorate you and improve student success.

Held in conjunction with ACTE’s CareerTech VISION, NAAE members have access to both conventions. The NAAE Convention schedule aligns with the VISION schedule, so that our members have the opportuntity to experience both conventions for one price. 

Great News! The Senate passed its version of the Budget and money for 2 Ag Ed Coordinators is included in the Budget. Read details about this and other great news from our Lobbyist, Bryan Holloway in his latest report:

The Senate Budget was released this week, and a full report on the education portion will be forthcoming.  The great news is that our coordinator positions at NC State are also in the Senate Budget. This means this item is not in controversy and it will be a part of the final budget.  Our funds for the camp were not in the Senate Budget. However, after talking with Senators and Rep. Brisson from the House, I feel confident the funds for the camp will make the final version of the budget.  Remember, they were in the House version. I’ll be writing back soon to give a full Senate Budget report. Budget negotiations between the two bodies will begin next week, and we should see the final version by late June or early July.   

Legislative Crossover Update

The North Carolina General Assembly continues to consider many items of interest to public school stakeholders. The Crossover deadline has now passed which means that no more non-finance related education bills will be filed and/or passed from one chamber to the other. However, in total, 88 education related bills have met the crossover deadline and will continue through the process of being heard and potentially become law. Those important pieces of legislation have been previously highlighted in earlier NCATA updates. Most of these 88 bills are minor and of less consequence to the broader K12-public school community. However, NCATA will follow all of these bills and will provide updates on those bills that will significantly impact NCATA members and other interested parties.

SB 374 Repeal Risky Retirement Payments

This bill would remove some retirement payment plans currently available to retirees. The stated reason for the change is to ensure stability to the State Retirement System through decreasing risk to the current system and to the retiree. Click here  to see existing retirement options.

HB 56  Arts Education Requirement

This bill would require the State Board of Education to change current graduation requirements to include an arts based credit. This requirement would take effect starting with 6th graders in the 2022 school year. Waivers would be available to transfer students from out of state.

Senate Bill 399  Allow for Retired Teachers to Return to Work in High Need Schools

This bill reflects revisions to the previous version of the bill regarding LEAs and the process of re-hiring recently retired teachers to teach in high-need schools. The criteria have been restricted and as such will likely present legal and financial challenges to LEAs who pursue recent retirees to teach under this program.

HB 798  Low Performing Schools (ISD)

This bill reflects the most recent modifications to the Innovative School District plan which is designed to take over and manage low performing schools. This iteration of the ISD would change how low performing schools are identified and increase communication between stakeholders (LEAs and County Commissioners). The state’s lowest performing school would always be added to the list annually as well as other schools meeting different levels of qualification assigned to the bottom 5 percent of low performing schools.

SB 580: Classroom Supplies to Teachers  

This program proposal would allow classroom teachers across the state to spend up $400.00 on classroom and instructional materials. Legislative Leaders have indicated that the $400.00 per teacher plan is based on new monies and the LEA allotments for supplies and instructional materials will continue.

Senate Bill 438

SB 438 was introduced which addressed some perceived deficiencies with the original Read to Achieve Act passed in 2013. According to Senate President Phil Berger, there were parts of the program that were working well and other components that needed adjustment. This Act would seek to implement Summer Reading Camps and offer targeted staff development to meet student’s needs to improve 3rd grade reading proficiency.  The Act utilizes current and past performance data to adjust the program to meet current student needs.

House Bill 377

This bill, which passed the House and now moves to the Senate, eliminates K-8 EOG tests and allows shorter “check in” tests during intervals in the school year. For high school testing, the NC Final Exam would be eliminated and the ACT would be utilized to measure student growth and ensure school accountability.

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House Bill 315

HB 315 passed the House and provides LEAs with discretionary flexibility on how instructional monies are spent and on which platforms instructional materials are delivered (instructional technology, textbooks, etc). In addition, the bill provides parental review of instructional materials selected by districts.

HB 184: Study State Health Plan Design

This bill allows lawmakers to study and review the State Health Plan and identify areas for improvement and modernization including goals based incentives for providers and members and healthy lifestyle promotion. In addition, the bill will examine the needs and concerns of stakeholders in the State Health Plan.

HB 354 (=H313) Modify Weighting/School Performance Grades.

This bill would change how performance grades are calculated. Presently, grades calculate 80 percent from proficiency and 20 percent from growth. The new proposal would calculate 50 percent for proficiency and 50 percent for growth would change how performance grades are calculated. Presently, grades calculate 80 percent from proficiency and 20 percent from growth. The new proposal would calculate 50 percent for proficiency and 50 percent for growth.

HB 362 (=H145) 15-Point Scale For School Performance Grades.

This bill would keep the 15-point scale for performance grades for schools as opposed to moving to the 10-point scale which was the most recent current law.

HB 266 School Annual Report Card.

This bill separates grades for school achievement and school growth. This bill would create a 15-point grading scale measuring school achievement and would utilize a 10-point scale, based on EVASS standards, to measure school growth.

HB 79 Academic Alignment/Boards of Education & CC.

This bill would allow for some scheduling flexibility and let local school boards align their schedules with the community college system.

HB 276 Modify Low-Performing School Definition.

This bill would remove the language of “low performing school” while modifying the definition using revised measurements. If a school has met expected growth, it will not be classified as “low performing.”

House Bill 241 Education Bond Act of 2019

A school bond measure has passed the House (H.B 241) and will move on to the Senate. Although changes are anticipated, the bond issue has received broad support. Its highlights include $1.5 billion in capital funding to K-12 schools, $200 million to community colleges, and $200 million to the UNC system. The bond measure would allow flexibility to local school boards to best determine spending priorities. In addition, the bond would provide crucial funds to rural schools which face a capital funding disadvantage. As of 3/18/19 this measure has been referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations in the Senate.

HB275 (=S189) CTE Pilot for Guilford Co. Schools.

This Pilot proposal, specific to Guilford County, would allow traditional high schools to host the Innovative Signature Career Academy Program. As of 3/26/19, this measure has been referred to the House Committee on Finance and has not seen action since..

SB 134 Economics & Financial Literacy Act.

This bill would mandate that students in high school complete an Economics and Financial literacy type course as a requirement for graduation. In addition, staff development opportunities would be extended for teachers in the content area. This bill has not seen action since April 3rd and is currently in the Senate Committee on Appropriations/Base Budget.

HB H199

This bill would provide funding to Charter Schools to meet student transportation needs and will allow qualifying schools to receive reimbursement for up to 65 percent of their transportation costs..This bill was referred to the House Committee on Appropriations on 4/9/19.

H485: Virtual Early Learning Pilot Program.

Under this proposed bill a pilot program would be established for a virtual or online academy for preschool aged children.

H493: Abuse & Neglect Resources.

This bill would mandate that public school students be equipped with necessary resources regarding child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and similar concerns.

H521: Provisional License/Teacher from Other State.

This bill is part of an ongoing effort to ease the process for out of state teacher licensure candidates and would allow for one year provisional licenses for teachers coming to North Carolina from other states. In addition, LEAs would make final determinations regarding the salary schedule and what credits for experience could be used.

H563: 30 Min. Duty-Free Lunch for Teachers.

This bill would attempt to ensure that teachers receive a 30 minute duty free lunch to the extent that funds and proper student supervision are available.