Friday Report – June 8, 2018

The Friday Report

June 8, 2018

In addition to the Senate overriding the Governor’s veto on the budget this week, there has been a flurry of education bills moving through legislative committees. The final weeks of this Short Session promise to be their usual rapid-fire succession of activity, including the House’s anticipated override of the budget veto perhaps on Tuesday of next week, June 12.

The news articles throughout this Friday Report cover the education headlines, and the list below covers some of lesser-reported education bills that are, nonetheless, ones to watch:

Senate Bill 15 ISD and Local Board Contracting Changes
The Innovative School District (ISD), formerly known as the Achievement School District, will essentially be able to further expand under this bill. It would newly include those Restart Model schools as eligible for the ISD, where current law precludes those schools from ISD consideration. It would allow the ISD Superintendent to select up to 2 additional qualifying schools per year beginning in 2021-22. There are a host of other timing and technical changes to the ISD, including the ability for a currently tenured teacher to maintain tenure if s/he chooses to teach at an ISD school. The bill passed House Education this week and may be calendared for a vote on the House floor soon.

HB 934 Threat Assessment Teams
While most schools already have threat assessment protocols, this bill would create statutory requirements for such protocols, teams and peer-to-peer student support programs. It would also codify under a new state statute the NC Center for Safer Schools. There is no funding attached to this bill. It passed the House this week and now moves to the Senate.

HB 965 National and State Mottos in Schools Act
Thursday’s House floor debate on this bill was biblical, literally. The bill would require public schools to display the national motto, “In God We Trust,” and the English translation of the State motto, “Esse Quam Videri” in at least one location in every school, with age appropriate instruction on both. The floor debate ranged from some members noting that “In God We Trust” is already on US currency and it does not promote any religion or non-religion, to other members citing the separation of church and state as rationale for not posting the national motto in schools. It passed the House and now moves to the Senate.

HB 982/SB 760 Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Data Sharing/Longitudinal Data System 

This bill is one of many resulting from the General Assembly’s Legislative Research Commission on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It would establish a Task Force to study the collection and use of data on education and employment outcomes for individuals with such disabilities. The Government Data Analytics Center’s report as a result of this new Task Force would be due to the legislature on October 1, 2018. The bill passed the House and has gone to the Senate.

State News

Controversial NC Charter Bill Approved. Now, These Four Towns Could Open Schools.

Photo Credit: Pixabay, Pexels.

A legislative vote Wednesday opened the door for four Mecklenburg County towns to create their own charter schools — and to what critics say could be the further segregation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.

The controversial bill won final approval in a 64-53 House vote, capping a year-long debate. Because it’s a local measure, the Senate-passed bill does not need approval from Gov. Roy Cooper.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Morrill, J. “Controversial NC charter bill approved. Now, these four towns could open schools.” The Charlotte Observer. 6/6/18.

Is HB514 the education version of HB2?

Image Credit: WBTV.

There is already fallout from state lawmakers passing controversial House Bill 514. One leader says it’s the educational version of the “bathroom bill,” House Bill 2.

Keith Poston, President of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, says NC is back in the news, but this time for lawmakers passing a bill that some say will re-segregate schools. The bill allows four predominately white towns to open their own charter schools that will be primarily for the students who live in those towns.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Russell, D. “Is HB514 the education version of HB2? ” WBTV. 6/7/18.

Researchers Say NC Voucher Program Needs Closer Look Than They Can Give

File photo of Chandler White, 8, who receives the Opportunity Scholarship voucher to attend a private school.

Photo Credit: Lynn Hey, WUNC.

A research team that studied the test results of students in the state’s largest voucher program say a far more rigorous evaluation of the program and its outcomes for students is needed.

Education researchers at North Carolina State University and the Friday Institute this week released the results of an unpublished evaluation of the Opportunity Scholarship, a state-funded voucher that helps low-income students attend private schools. The research came out with positive results for the voucher recipients who participated in the study – but the authors say those results come with many caveats.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Schlemmer, L. “Researchers Say NC Voucher Program Needs Closer Look Than They Can Give .” WUNC. 6/5/18.

Good Test Scores But Too Much Bible: Two Views from Research on N.C. School Vouchers

Ellijah Palmer and Cail Glaze attend The Male Leadership Academy, a private Christian school in Charlotte, with help from Opportunity Scholarships. Photo Credit: Justine Miller, The Charlotte Observer.

North Carolina students attending private schools through the state voucher program outperformed public-school counterparts on reading and math exams, according to a new study from N.C. State University researchers.

The study, released Monday, found that students getting Opportunity Scholarships showed a “positive, large and statistically significant” edge on the exams, based on about 500 public and private school students who voluntarily took the same nationally-normed exam.

On the other hand, a recent study by the League of Women Voters of Lower Cape Fear found the majority of voucher schools use a Bible-based curriculum that their experts say could leave students ill-prepared for college.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Doss Helms, A. “Good test scores but too much Bible: Two views from research on N.C. school vouchers.” The Charlotte Observer. 6/4/18.

NC Voucher School Headmaster Indicted for Embezzlement; School Has Received $327,000 in Opportunity Scholarship Funds

A grand jury has indicted the former headmaster of Trinity Christian School in Rutherford County after investigators say she embezzled $130,000 of the school’s funds. Photo Credit: WLOS Staff.

A grand jury has indicted the former headmaster of Trinity Christian School after investigators say she embezzled more than $130,000 of the school’s funds.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

WLOS Staff. “Former Rutherfordton headmaster accused of embezzling $130K from school.” WLOS. 6/5/18.

Republicans Begin to Override Gov. Cooper’s Budget Veto

Photo Credit: WRAL.

Republicans started to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of state budget adjustments for next year Thursday, again endorsing their bill despite Cooper’s critique that focused on education, taxes and parliamentary procedure.

The state Senate voted 34-13 to enact the $23.9 billion spending plan, which alters the second year of the two-year budget approved in 2017. Cooper vetoed that budget bill, too, and GOP lawmakers overrode it.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

For more news on the state budget, see the following article:

Cooper vetoes GOP budget, saying it ‘doesn’t cut it’ WRAL

Excerpt from:

Robertson, G. “Republicans begin to override Gov. Cooper’s budget veto.” Associated Press. 6/7/18.

Are NC Schools Getting Out of Control? Fewer Teachers Feel Students Behave Properly

Photo Credit: JJ Thompson, Unsplash.

Fewer North Carolina teachers feel that their schools are safe and that students are behaving properly in school, according to results of a new statewide survey of educators.

Teachers reported more dissatisfaction with student conduct in the 2018 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey than compared to past years. The survey is conducted every two years to find out what educators are thinking.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “Are NC schools getting out of control? Fewer teachers feel students behave properly.” The News & Observer. 6/6/18.

Bright, Low-Income Kids Are Missing Out on Advanced Classes. This Bill Would Force a Change.

Lowe’s Grove Middle School teacher Jenny Duvall works with 8th grader Julius Borunda as part of a Durham

program to provide more challenging classes to low-income students with high potential.

Photo Credit: Harry Lynch, The News & Observer.

A year after a News & Observer and Charlotte Observer series showed that thousands of bright, low-income students were being excluded from advanced classes, state lawmakers took steps Wednesday to address the issue.

The state House voted 114-0 to back a bill that requires North Carolina public schools to place in advanced math classes any students who scored a Level 5 — the highest level on state end-of-grade or end-of-course math exams. Lawmakers pointed to the N&O and Observer’s “Counted Out” series for why the legislation is needed.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “Bright, low-income kids are missing out on advanced classes. This bill would force a change. ” The News & Observer. 6/6/18.

NC Legislators Advance Bills Putting God and Cursive in Schools, Expanding Charter Takeovers

Teacher’s aide Elizabeth Young asks a question of her students during an English lesson at the Maureen Joy Charter School in Durham, N.C. on Dec. 20, 2016. Photo Credit: Chuck Liddy, The News & Observer.

North Carolina schools could look and operate differently next year if the state Legislature eventually passes a handful of bills that made it out of a key committee on Tuesday.

One of the bills that advanced would require every public school in the state to prominently display signs containing the phrases “In God We Trust” and “To Be, Rather Than To Seem.” In God We Trust is the national motto, and To Be, Rather Than To Seem is the English translation of the state motto, which is Esse Quam Videri.

Another bill would check to make sure that schools are still teaching cursive writing, even though it’s not part of the new Common Core curriculum the state adopted several years ago. It would also automatically send elementary school students with high test scores into advanced math classes.

Finally, a third bill would expand the controversial Innovative School District program, in which the control of low-performing schools is taken away from local school boards and handed over to charter school operators. The bill would also allow school districts to hire the spouses of their superintendents, which critics said could lead to ethical problems.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Doran, W. “NC legislators advance bills putting God and cursive in schools, expanding charter takeovers.” The News & Observer. 6/5/18.

Ed Roundup: State Board of Education and General Assembly

State Board of Education, June 7, 2018. Photo Credit: Alex Granados, EducationNC.

Responding to news that the General Assembly’s budget did not reverse $5.1 million in cuts to the State Department of Public Instruction for the upcoming year, State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey said Wednesday he was disappointed.

“It impacts our ability to reach the lowest achieving schools,” he said in an interview. Board members and Superintendent Mark Johnson went into closed session Wednesday to discuss the budget cuts. Cobey said before the Board’s meeting that he didn’t know exactly what the cuts would look like, but he said, “It’s going to have to be a pretty significant number.”

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Granados, A. “Ed roundup: State Board of Education and General Assembly.” EducationNC. 6/7/18.

If a Teacher Showed a Movie in Class, Legislators Would Know About It Under Proposed Bill

Millbrook High School student Edgar DeLeon-Molina intently watches a scene in a movie during his English as a Second Language class on March 19, 2008. The class was watching “Miracle,” the story of the 1980 U.S. hockey team winning the gold medal at the Winter Olympics. The students would watch a portion of the movie and then discuss the nuances of it. Also visible are Darisa Paez Santana (left) and Denny Cruz (right). Photo Credit: Chuck Liddy, The News & Observer.

A state lawmaker wants to know what movies are being shown to students during school hours, and that’s leaving some North Carolina teachers feeling insulted.

House Bill 1079 would require all North Carolina school districts and charter schools to report to the state which movies were shown during instructional time this school year from November through January and from April through June. Schools would also be required to say when the movies were shown, the amount of time they were shown and the instructional purpose for viewing them.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “If a teacher showed a movie in class, legislators would know about it under proposed bill.” The News & Observer. 6/4/18.

Betsy DeVos Finally Approves North Carolina’s Plan for Educating Students

In this Sept. 7, 2017, file photo, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks at George Mason University’s Arlington, Va., campus. DeVos has approved North Carolina’s plan for educating students under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. Photo Credit: Jacquelyn Martin, AP.

U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced Tuesday that she has approved North Carolina’s plan for educating students, which will guarantee the continued flow of federal education dollars into the state.

North Carolina had been among six states who had not yet received U.S. Department of Education approval for how it would educate students under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. In her announcement, DeVos praised North Carolina for its use of the controversial A through F school grading system, in which schools get letter grades based on how their students perform on state exams.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “Betsy DeVos finally approves North Carolina’s plan for educating students.” The News & Observer. 6/5/18.

Support the NC School Bond Bill

For new buildings, repairs, and renovations, North Carolina’s public schools need $8.1 billion to adequately address the reality that our children are being taught in overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating buildings and mobile units. The NC School Bond (HB 866/SB 542) would invest $1.9 billion to begin addressing these critical needs without increasing taxes.

Show your support for a statewide school construction bond in North Carolina by signing up online to join the effort. Please visit https://www.ncschoolbond.com/ to learn more and lend your voice. For more information on this topic, check out this episode of Education Matters that aired on June 2, 2018: NC’s School Building Needs.

National News

What Budget Cuts Mean for Third Graders in a Rural School

Preston Carraway, right, and his classmates, from left, Eric Guerrero, Rashad Dodd and Peyton Murray, worked on a timed math exercise at West Greene Elementary School. Photo Credit: Madeline Gray, The New York Times. 

At 7:50 on a recent morning, Preston Carraway greeted his third-grade teacher, Keshia Speight, who stood at the classroom door dispensing hugs. Mrs. Speight’s class has a motto, which everyone chants in the morning when she raises her fist: “Be brave! Be smart! Stay humble!”

That last point doesn’t seem like a stretch.

Preston, 8, goes to West Greene Elementary School in Snow Hill, a town of 1,500 in rural Greene County, N.C. Of the 100 counties in the state, Greene is one of the poorest. About four out of five public school students come from low-income families. Only three counties in North Carolina spend less on public education.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

For more national news coverage on education funding, see the following article: 

The Numbers That Explain Why Teachers Are in Revolt The New York Times

Excerpt from:

Goldstein, D. “What Budget Cuts Mean for Third Graders in a Rural School.” The New York Times. 6/5/18.

New Polls Find Most Americans Say Teachers Are Underpaid – and Many Would Pay Higher Taxes to Fix It

Teachers rally outside Arizona’s Capitol in Phoenix during an April walkout that mirrored educator protests in other states. Photo Credit: Matt York, AP.

Teachers seeking higher pay and more school funding walked out of classrooms in half a dozen states this year. Now, three national polls report that most Americans agree that educators don’t earn enough. And two of the surveys found that at least half of Americans said they would pay higher taxes to raise educator salaries.

The national polls were conducted by the New York Times, the Associated Press and NPR, and each found that Americans overwhelmingly believe public school teachers are underpaid.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Strauss, V. “New polls find most Americans say teachers are underpaid — and many would pay higher taxes to fix it.” The Washington Post. 6/1/18.

States Squeezed By Fiscal, Political Pressures on Funding

Judy Wai is a counselor at Audubon Elementary School in Foster City, Calif. The San Mateo-Foster City district used its local flexibility under the state’s funding formula to funnel resources into additional counselors and other priorities identified by the community. Photo Credit: Ramin Rahimian, Education Week.

No matter how much they need, schools can only spend what they have—and that finite pot of money depends on broader economic and political factors largely beyond their control. So when it comes to spreading nearly $648.6 billion in state, local, and federal education aid across the national landscape, there are bound to be big holes in the funding bucket, even in a generally resurgent economy.

And the pictures that emerge from disparate spending decisions by states and districts can be striking: students shivering in poorly heated classrooms or sweltering without air conditioning; viral posts of taped-up textbooks, outdated computers, and overcrowded classrooms; teachers striking and rallying in multiple states under the banner of higher pay and additional school funding.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

This article is part of the second installment on Education Week’s Quality Counts 2018  Report, an annual state-by-state assessment of public education. 

For the entire second installment on Quality Counts 2018, click here.

Excerpt from:

Burnette, D. “States Squeezed by Fiscal, Political Pressures on Funding.” Education Week. 6/6/18.

Opportunities

Applications Open for 2018-19 NC Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP)

The Public School Forum is accepting applications for the 2018-19 cohort of the North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).

The North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program is the only statewide program of its kind that focuses on leadership and professional development in the context of education policy. Fellows come from public schools, higher education, community colleges, and a diverse array of education organizations across North Carolina. Each class includes a cohort of fellows who focus on education policy issues and the wide range of factors that influence education in North Carolina. Fellows will increase their awareness of how public policy is made, learn whom the key players are in the formation of this policy, and become more confident and involved in the policy-making process.

Application information for both EPFP Central and EPFP West can be found online at https://www.ncforum.org/education-policy-fellowship-program/. Applications are due by June 30, 2018. Contact Lauren Bock, Public School Forum Director of Policy & Programs, at [email protected] with questions.

Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards for Science and Mathematics Teachers

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Science and Math Teachers (CASMT) application is now available online. The Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers is a five-year award available to outstanding science and/or mathematics teachers in the North Carolina public primary and secondary schools. The purpose of this award is to recognize teachers who have demonstrated solid knowledge of science and/or mathematics content and have outstanding performance records in educating children. The deadline for submission is September 24th, 2018.

For more information or to access the application, visit https://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/science-education/career-awards-science-and-mathematics-teachers.

Women in Educational Leadership Symposium

Registration is open for the third annual Women in Educational Leadership Symposium (WIELS). The purpose of WIELS is to bring women together to share, learn, and grow in leadership. This conference aims to provide personalized learning and mentoring opportunities for those who aspire to become or currently serve as educational leaders.

The symposium will be held October 5 through October 6, 2018 at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. This year’s conference theme is Advancing the Leader Within: Building Capacity.

Registration for the conference is online at https://wiels.appstate.edu/about-us/registration. Additional information can be found at https://wiels.appstate.edu/.

The Friday Report is published weekly by the Public School Forum of NC and is distributed to Forum members, policymakers, donors, media, and Forum subscribers. Archived editions can be found at www.ncforum.org.

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