2016

State Budget Update

The Senate and House have agreed on a $22.225 billion spending target for the 2016-17 fiscal year State budget.  This is approximately 0.5% smaller than the total State spending proposal put forward by Gov. McCrory.  It also exceeds the 2% spending increase over the 2015-16 budget that the Senate leader has publicly mentioned.  Agreeing on a total State spending target up front should significantly speed up the budgeting process.

On Thursday, the House Education Appropriations Committee, along with the other House appropriation committees, were given their spending targets.  The chairs indicated that they would be working over the weekend and would have something for the Committee’s consideration on Tuesday or no later than Wednesday.  If this schedule is adhered to the House version of the budget could be completed within the next two weeks.

The House Education Appropriations Committee met three times this week to review the current budgets of and listen to expansion requests from each of the three public education sectors: K-12, Community Colleges, and Universities.  The SBE’s expansion requests for 2016-17 include: teacher pay, digital learning enhancements, professional development, funding for school turnaround efforts, leadership programs for administrators, instructional supplies, assistant principals, nurses, child nutrition, and Cooperative Innovative High Schools.  State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. June Atkinson and State Board Chair Bill Cobey appeared at Tuesday’s House Ed Appropriations Committee hearing to talk about those SBE budget priorities.  You can watch a video of those remarks here and here.  A video of legislators posing questions to Dr. Atkinson and Chairman Cobey is here.

On Thursday, the Committee took public comments including from NCSBA.

LEA/Charter Fund Sharing Issue

HB 539
It is important that you continue to communicate with your House member(s) in opposition to HB 539, the legislation to shift funds from LEAs to charter schools.  Make sure legislators understand the pots of monies that are at risk if the bill becomes law.  Click here to learn more about the pots of monies that HB 539 would obligate school districts to share.  Remember that HB 539 can come up at any moment and would receive only an up or down vote (not amendable) on the House floor. There was some indication earlier this week that the bill might move as early as yesterday.  That was later averted when a meeting was set up for groups representing LEAs and charter schools this upcoming Monday.

Video and Grassroots Advocacy
Also be sure to continue sharing the video that touches on the LEA/charter school funding sharing issue.  The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/Ai1al22B3DU

Also use this fact sheet on the issue at this link: https://ncsbac.org/charter-school-funding-issues

Alternative Charter School Funding Model

During the break between legislative sessions, NCSBA and NCASA convened a group of school board members, superintendents, finance officers, and board attorneys to see if we could develop another way to provide funding for charter schools.

The proposed new funding model, which is described here, provides charter schools with their own funding streams at both the State and local levels.  It is based upon charter schools being treated like a city LEA.  This proposal was approved by the NCSBA Board of Directors contingent upon approval of School Superintendents Association and a statewide convening of board chairs, superintendents, finance officers, and board attorneys.  In light of the meeting being set for Monday (see above story) this proposal was presented to a representative of the NC Public Charter Schools Association on Thursday so that it could be part of the discussions.

School Board Local Funding Lawsuit Authority

One of the top three legislative goals of the NC County Commissioners Associations is:

“Seek legislation to repeal the statutory authority under NCGS 115C-431(c) that allows local school boards to file suit against a county board of commissioners over county appropriations for education.

• The current version of HB561 includes a five-year moratorium on such lawsuits. The bill is in conference and is eligible for short session consideration.
• With more counties experiencing threats of lawsuits, more legislators are interested in the issue. Those from counties that have experienced more extreme conflict between commissioners and school boards have grown more adamant that the issue be addressed.
• Please continue communicating with your House member(s) in opposition to the provision in HB 561 that would put a moratorium on school board legal challenges to local funding.

Talking Points on HB 561 to Communicate to House Members

• If passed, HB 561 has the potential to significantly alter the balance between school boards and county commissions.
• The threat of school boards utilizing the legal action option gives county commissioners incentive to negotiate and take school board concerns seriously both during the normal budget development process and mediation.
• Without the legal action option, county commissioners would have no reason to move away from their position on local funding, making the mediation process essentially meaningless.
• There is also the question of how local boards of education will fulfill the constitutional obligation to provide an opportunity for a sound, basic education if this option is not available. The only other option would be the State.
• The House has already spoken on this issue last session when it voted down a bill to permanently revoke this authority.

Bills

New Bills: Click here to see NCSBA-tracked bills that were filed this week.

Upcoming Legislative Meetings and Events

Monday, May 9

11:30 AM
The Senate will convene.

3:00
The House will convene.

Tuesday, May 10

Leanne E. Winner
Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919)747-6686 direct dial

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

Bryan Holloway
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919)747-6677 direct dial

Session Begins

Lawmakers returned to Raleigh this week to formally begin the 2016 legislative “short” session.  Most of the week’s business focused on bill filings and committee hearings.  Appropriations committees met to learn more details about the Governor’s budget proposals (see below).

There will be a few new faces in the General Assembly this session due to various circumstances that arose during the interim.

LEA/Charter Fund Sharing

Please continue to communicate with your House member(s) about HB 539.  Talk to them about the kinds of monies your school district would have to transfer if the bill becomes law.  Click here to learn more about the pots of monies that HB 539 would obligate school districts to share.  Use that document to help you communicate with your House member(s).  Also be sure to continue sharing the video that touches on this issue.  The link to the video is: https://youtu.be/Ai1al22B3DU

Voucher Expansion Bill

A bill has been filed in the North Carolina House that would make changes to the Opportunity Scholarship and special education voucher programs.  The most significant change proposed by HB 955 is to increase the portion of eligible students in kindergarten and first grade that can receive the Opportunity Scholarship voucher from 35% to 45% and to no longer factor in siblings of voucher recipients, siblings of a public school student or those whose parents are full time military (see below) in the calculation of the 45% ceiling.  This language would provide public subsidies to many families that may not have had any plans to enroll their children in public schools anyway.  It is likely to substantially inflate the perceived demand for vouchers and thus give the proponents an argument to increase funding for the program.

Another change made by HB 955 is that eligibility for the Opportunity Scholarship and special education voucher programs would extend to children whose parent/legal guardian is on full-time duty status in the military.  It also makes changes to how funds for the special education voucher program will be remitted to the non-public school that the parent or guardian chooses.  HB 969 and SB 742 have also been filed and solely deal with adding children whose parent/legal guardian is on full-time duty status in the military.

County Commissioners Association

One of the top three legislative goals of the NC County Commissioners Associations is:

“Seek legislation to repeal the statutory authority under NCGS 115C-431(c) that allows local school boards to file suit against a county board of commissioners over county appropriations for education.

• The current version of HB561 includes a five-year moratorium on such lawsuits. The bill is in conference and is eligible for short session consideration.
• With more counties experiencing threats of lawsuits, more legislators are interested in the issue. Those from counties that have experienced more extreme conflict between commissioner and school boards have grown more adamant that the issue be addressed.
• Please communicate with your House member(s) in opposition to the provision in HB 561 that would put a moratorium on school board legal challenges to local funding.

Talking Points on HB 561 to Communicate to House Members

• If passed, HB 561 has the potential to significantly alter the balance between school boards and county commissions.
• The threat of school boards utilizing the legal action option gives county commissioners incentive to negotiate and take school board concerns seriously both during the normal budget development process and mediation.
• Without the legal action option, county commissioners would have no reason to move away from their position on local funding, making the mediation process essentially meaningless.
• There is also the question of how local boards of education will fulfill the constitutional obligation to provide an opportunity for a sound, basic education if this option is not available. The only other option would be the State.
• The House has already spoken on this issue last session when it voted down a bill to permanently revoke this authority.

Fines/Forfeitures

House/Senate companion bills were filed this week to award $272,000 in wrongfully withheld improper equipment fines to the Richmond County Board of Education.  Lawmakers created a $50 improper equipment fine in 2011 but directed that the proceeds should go to fund inmate costs instead of to public schools.  A lawsuit was then filed by the Richmond school board contending that having the proceeds to go jails instead of public schools violated the NC constitution.  The Court of Appeals agreed and awarded $272,000 in collected fines to the Richmond board.  Another 81 boards of education have filed similar complaints over the fine.  The bills to direct the money to the Richmond school board are HB 953 (filed by Rep. Ken Goodman) and SB 756 (sponsored by Sen. Tom McInnis).
The House chief budget writer said legislators will be discussing how much money to return and where it should go. “I think what the General Assembly will do, we’re going to thoroughly review what our options are and what our requirements need to be and will work to make sure we are resolving the issue so that everybody can move forward and understand what the parameters will be,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Wake).

Issue Brief on Achievement School Districts
We mentioned last week that we were putting together an Issue Brief to provide more details and background on the Achievement School District bill.  That Issue Brief is now complete and you can find it here.

Governor’s Budget

Gov. Pat McCrory released details of his proposed budget adjustments for the 2016-17 fiscal year. The centerpiece of his proposal is to raise teacher salaries on average 5% and restore annual experience-based step increases to the salary schedule.  Annual step increases would range between $500 and $1,100 under the new schedule, with annual salary topping out at $50,000 by year 20.  This would set the average salary for teachers in North Carolina to $50,000 (this calculation includes local supplements).  The Governor also wants to give $5,000 one-time bonuses to teachers with 25 + years of experience and $1,100 bonuses to all other teachers.  The teacher salary package would cost approximately $260 million in recurring dollars with the bonuses costing another $166.1 million.

School administrators would also receive experienced-based step increases and bonuses while non-certified staff would get an average 3% bonus under the Governor’s proposal.
Other notable K-12 items in the Governor’s budget include fully funding ADM growth for the 2016-17 fiscal year and increasing funding for instructional supplies/equipment and digital learning through the lottery.

Click here to see the new teacher salary schedule proposed by the Governor.

Click here to see the K-12 provisions of the Governor’s budget.

Bills

New Bills: Click here to see NCSBA-tracked bills that had action this week.
Upcoming Legislative Meetings and Events

Monday, May 2

The House will convene at 3:00 PM
The Senate will convene at 7:00 PM

Tuesday, May 3

8:30 AM
The House Ed Appropriations Committee will meet.

Wednesday, May 4

8:30 AM
The House Ed Appropriations Committee will meet.

Thursday, May 5

8:30 AM
The House Ed Appropriations Committee will meet.

Leanne E. Winner
Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919)747-6686 direct dial

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919) 606-3916 mobile

Bryan Holloway
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919)747-6677 direct dial

Legislative Short Session Starts in April

The 2016 legislative “short session” begins April 25.  Over the next few weeks various interim committees will be finishing up their work and voting on recommendations for the General Assembly.  Any bills that are recommended by an interim committee are eligible for consideration during the short session.

2016 Primary

The 2016 primary election for statewide offices and state legislative seats was held on March 15.

Click here for a list of former and current school board members who had a primary opponent and won.

Click here for the other former/current school board members who will be moving on to the November general elections and did not face an opponent in a primary.

Achievement School Districts

The House Select Committee on Achievement School Districts met on March 30.  At this meeting, Rep. Rob Bryan (R-Mecklenburg), the primary sponsor of draft legislation to establish an Achievement School District in North Carolina, unveiled the most recent version of the legislation.  The new version, which you can read here, would allow school districts that transfer a school to the ASD to also establish Innovation Zones, which are areas where school districts can operate up to three low-performing schools with charter-like exemptions.  Unless school districts are allowed to transfer other types of schools into these Innovation Zones, the Innovation Zones provision would not allow school districts to do anything they cannot already do.

NCSBA continues to have significant concerns about the ASD approach based upon the lack of evidence of success with this model in other states.  There are also concerns about liability, ownership, financial responsibilities, FERPA, transportation, employment, enrollment, the memorandum of understanding, vague language and low standards.  Click here to find a detailed list of these concerns, which has also been shared with members of the select committee.

Rep. Bryan intends to have this committee meet one more time before session starts to vote on whether to recommend this draft bill to the full legislature for the short session.   Watch for further alerts on this bill in the weeks ahead.

Other Presentations

• Malika Anderson, Superintendent of the Tennessee Achievement School District, talked about what she feels have been the successes of the Achievement School District she oversees and the lessons that North Carolina can take from the Tennessee experience.  You can watch her presentation here.
• Dr. Gary Henry of Vanderbilt University reviewed findings from his research into the Tennessee  Achievement School District.  Dr. Henry’s research has found Tennessee’s ASD experience to be largely unsuccessful but one component, areas in which school districts can operate schools with charter-like flexibility, has shown some promise.  You can watch Dr. Henry’s presentation here.
• Joshua Glazer of George Washington University also discussed the shortcomings of the Tennessee ASD and gave some insight into why the ASD model is inherently difficult.  You can watch his presentation here.

Education Strategy and Practices

The House Select Committee on Education Strategy and Practices met on March 24 and discussed the following pertinent topics:

Revisions to the Standard Course of Study

The Committee was informed of DPI’s plans to review and make modifications to the Standard Course of Study, guided in part by the recommendations of the Academic Standards Review Commission.  Dr. Rebecca Garland, Deputy State Superintendent, told the Committee that there will likely be substantial revisions to the Math II and Math III high school standards.  Implementation of those changes could begin as soon as the 2016-17 school year.  DPI’s standards review committee will look at changes to the K-8 Math standards this Fall.  The plan still needs to be approved by the State Board of Education.  You can watch this presentation here.

Draft Bills

Rep. Paul Stam (R-Wake) shared copies of a five-part bill he is drafting for the upcoming session that would touch on several K-12 topics as follows:

Part 1 would place a cap on the monetary value of severance packages local superintendents can receive.

Part 2 would provide that the salaries of individual classroom teachers are no longer a public record.

Part 3 would allow teachers who earn a Master’s or advanced degree to teach in the subject area of their degree without needing a teaching license.  However, the proposal would not reestablish salary supplements for teachers with Master’s and advanced degrees.

Part 4 would expedite licensing for spouses of active duty military personnel.

Part 5 would allow educators who move into higher paying roles (teacher to assistant principal, assistant principal to principal, etc.) to earn as much as they would have made in the previous position regardless of whether there has been a break in service.

You can watch Rep. Stam discuss his bill here. You can take a look at the draft bill here.

Cooperative Innovative High Schools

The Committee heard from several individuals about the successes and challenges of Cooperative Innovative High Schools.

College and Career Ready Diploma Endorsements 

An update was given on the impact of high school diploma endorsements that were approved in 2013.

Charter Schools Advisory Board

The NC Charter Schools Advisory Board met on March 7 and 8.  This month’s meeting focused on conducting interviews with groups seeking a charter for 2017-18 and taking action on those applications.

Through March, the Board has forwarded 10 applications to the State Board of Education for approval and voted down another 10 applications.  One applicant has received a tie vote (will be settled by the SBE) and one applicant withdrew.  The Board has five applications remaining for interviews.

Below are the charter groups that have been recommended for approval to the State Board:

Addie C. Morris Children’s School (Forsyth)
Bonnie Cone Classical (Mecklenburg)
Discovery (Durham)
Emereau: Bladen (Bladen)
Emereau: Halifax (Halifax)
Johnston Charter Academy (Johnston)
Montcross Charter (Gaston)
Movement School (Mecklenburg)
Ridgeview Charter (Gaston)
Rolesville Charter (Wake)

Next Generation Charter Academy in Guilford received a tie vote and will be discussed by the State Board when they take up the remaining applications.

Leanne E. Winner
Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association 
(919)747-6686 direct dial

Bruce Mildwurf
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association 
(919) 606-3916 mobile

Bryan Holloway
Associate Director of Governmental Relations
N.C. School Boards Association
(919)747-6677 direct dial