Education Funding

N.C. House Gives Initial OK to School Reform Bill

By The Associated Press — May 26, 2010 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Facing a deadline next week for the state to apply for up to $400 million in federal grants, the state House gave initial approval Tuesday to legislation sought by Gov. Beverly Perdue laying out options for local education leaders to improve low-performing schools.

The House voted 68-45 in favor of legislation adopting federal guidelines by allowing the State Board of Education to give school districts four ways to retool more than 130 public schools where less than half of the students met expectations in standardized tests two of the past three years.

The biggest change would allow districts to “restart” a typical school by giving it the same flexibility as a charter school without making it independent from the district. Charter schools are exempt from many rules of most public schools and can test innovative learning techniques or focus more on children at risk of failure.

The bill, which could receive final approval Wednesday, wouldn’t lift the state’s cap of 100 charter schools that’s been in place since 1996. Lawmakers have been nervous about raising or eliminating the cap on the traditional charter schools, which also are run by private boards.

The measure instead would offer the ability to create “charter-like” schools, in addition to other methods to help continually low-performing schools. The other three are increasing learning time and improving teacher performance; removing the principal and many teachers; and simply closing the school.

“What this does is give multiple options for reform,” said Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, the bill’s chief proponent in the House. “There are more reforms out there than the charter model.”

Perdue sought the change by June 1 — that’s when her administration has to file an application to seek the second round of “Race to the Top” federal education reform grants. North Carolina finished well out of the money for the first round of applications in March. The state didn’t score well when it came to charter schools and other innovative schools.

Several Republican House members criticized the proposal as simply window-dressing to impress the judges in the U.S. Department of Education competition. They said school districts already had the ability to rework schools using the other three options beside the charter-like method. The charter-like schools wouldn’t count toward the cap of 100.

“It’s a fig leaf,” said Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake. “It’s not really reform.”

Boosters of charter schools held a news conference to argue the proposal won’t do enough to help the state’s next Race to the Top application because it doesn’t lift the 100-charter cap. The House approved a separate bill last year to raise the cap 106 but it’s languished in the Senate ever since.

Darrell Allison, president for Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, a pro-charter school group, said while the bill approved Tuesday isn’t awful, it fails to get at the root problem that about 18,000 children are on waiting lists for traditional charter schools.

“North Carolina is once again positioning itself to forfeit hundreds of millions of dollars due to its inaction in moving strong on public charter school policy this legislative short session,” Allison said.

Perdue said the bill isn’t necessary for the application, but it will “strengthen North Carolina’s case for making all schools successful and making sure all students receive a quality education,” Perdue spokesman Tim Crowley said.

Related Tags:

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Events

Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Tech Is Everywhere. But Is It Making Schools Better?
Join us for a lively discussion about the ways that technology is being used to improve schools and how it is falling short.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding Which Districts Are Most at Risk If America Breaches the Debt Ceiling?
Thousands of districts depend on the federal government for more than 10 percent of their revenue.
A man standing on the edge of a one dollar bill that is folded downward to look like a funding cliff.
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Education Funding 'So Catastrophic': How a Debt Ceiling Breach Would Hurt Schools
If federal funding stops flowing to schools before July 1, schools' ability to pay billions of dollars in expenses would be at risk.
8 min read
Photo of piggy bank submerged in water.
E+ / Getty
Education Funding How Much Do School Support Staff Make in Each State? (Spoiler: It's Not a Living Wage)
In some states, education support personnel make below $30,000, new data show.
3 min read
Brian Hess, head custodian at the Washburn Elementary School in Auburn, Maine, strips the cafeteria floors in preparation for waxing on Aug. 17, 2021.
Brian Hess, head custodian at Washburn Elementary School in Auburn, Maine, strips the cafeteria floors in preparation for waxing on Aug. 17, 2021.
Andree Kehn/Sun Journal via AP
Education Funding Schools Could Lose Funding as Lawmakers Spar Over the National Debt Ceiling
House Republicans are proposing federal spending cuts, including to K-12 programs, in exchange for raising the nation's debt ceiling.
4 min read
Illustration of two groups of professionals fighting in a tug of war with a dollar.
iStock/Getty