What do we need to watch for in regards to NC K-12 education in 2023?
There’s a few things to keep our eyes on….
It’s a new year and a new legislature. On January 11, the new members of the NCGA were inaugurated.
The new NCGA is made up of the following:
NC House: 120 members – 71 R and 49 D (one vote short of a supermajority)
NC Senate: 50 members: 30 R and 20 D (R’s have a supermajority)
Governor: Roy Cooper (D)
Last week the state general assembly went into what’s known as a long session. Long session in NC happens every two years during odd numbered years. The NC House, Senate and Governor each draft their own two-year budget and will all come together (we hope) to negotiate a final version which will become the official state budget. One of the big components of the state budget is education. As expected, a flurry of bills have been filed, which always happens at the beginning of a new legislature year.
So what do we expect in terms of education from the newly inaugurated NCGA? Status quo. Not much changed in the dynamics of the legislature. That means nothing will change in terms of education. It will be the “same old-same old” that we’ve had since 2011. You can expect more money will be allotted for private school vouchers. More for-profit charter schools are opening and will continue to open in North Carolina. Leandro will be back in the news. Don’t hold your breath that NC public education will see any of that well deserved money. We will hear more discussions about the new licensure and compensation plan that is deeply unpopular with educators, but strongly pushed by the private sector in North Carolina. We will hear about CRT, issues concerning LGBTQ+ students, and will most likely see a resurgence of the “Parents Bill of Rights”. I will keep you updated on all of that as it happens.
Please note that just because a bill is filed doesn’t mean it’s going to become law. In fact, most will not. Once filed, it goes to committee. This is where most bills die. If it makes it out of committee, it will then go to the chamber floor. If it makes it off that chamber floor then it goes to the other chamber floor. If the bill gets an up vote in BOTH chambers (House and Senate) then it will go to the Governor, who will then either veto it and send it back or sign it into law. It needs to be noted that if you have a supermajority, of which the GOP does, bills can be fast tracked through committee and to the chamber floor. We may see that this year with “hot button” bills. For most bills once it is filed it has a long road ahead before it becomes law.
Here’s a few education bills that were introduced that I feel are worth noting.
HB17: State Board of Education. This bill would impact how the NC State Board of Education is determined. Currently, they are appointed by the Governor, confirmed by the NCGA and serve eight year terms. The Lt. Governor and the state treasurer sit on the board and have voting power. The state superintendent attends the meetings, but does not have voting power. This bill would change all that and would also require a constitutional amendment. According to this bill members of the board would be elected from the same13-NC House districts, each serving 4 year terms. The state superintendent would become the head of the State Board of Education and preside over the board. My initial concern is a constitutional amendment. I’m not in favor of that at the moment. Also, I feel this could very well make the State Board of Education partisan. Too partisan in my opinion. Education is one place where political parties should not be since public education serves ALL. It must also be noted that with the gerrymandered districts in North Carolina I fear that the board would not be fairly balanced. I just don’t see this as being fair and equitable. As of now, I am not in favor of this bill. This is not anything new. This idea has been floated before and got little traction. Let’s hope for the same fate on the HB17 bill. I give this a red light.
HB8: Computer Science Graduation Requirement. This bill would require that computer science be a high school graduation requirement and it would count as a science credit. Currently, computer science is an elective. This bill would coincide with HB3 which would require a high school computer science class as an admissions requirement to all UNC colleges and universities. While I have no problem with making computer science a high school graduation requirement or a college admission requirement, I do have issues with this being done at the expense of Earth and Environmental science. Currently all NC high school graduates need to graduate with 3 science credits; 1-Biology, 1-physical science and 1-earth/environmental science. Stated in this bill a computer science course could NOT replace a biology or physical science course, leaving earth/environmental science pushed to the side. With all the environmental issues we are facing today and given the fact that Earth is under assault from climate change, I don’t think we need to neglect that for computer science. Just add it as a graduation requirement rather than make it in lieu of another science. I give this a yellow light.
HB26: Education Omnibus: There’s a few things in this bill. The two that got my attention was restructuring the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). This bill would move authority of NCCAT from the UNC Board of Governors to the State Board of Education and require the organization to report directly to the state superintendent. I”m not clear as to why this is being discussed and as always the devil is in the details. The only details I see thus far is giving the superintendent full authority over the management of NCCAT. This doesn’t sit well with me initially and this is something that I’m going to “put a pin in it” and watch.
Another part of this bill is changing the state’s A-F school report card grading scale. Yes! This is a big deal because educators and legislators from BOTH parties have been advocating to change this for years. Since it was introduced in 2012, the metrics of determining a school’s letter grade is terribly flawed and deeply unpopular with educators. Currently, 80% of that grade comes from academic performance and 20% comes from academic growth; both of which are determined by standardized tests (which are terribly flawed). These metrics do not measure the quality of the school, it instead measures the socio-economic status of the students. Nearly every one of these “failing” schools were considered high-poverty. The state of Virginia also used the A-F rating, but got rid of it because it proved to be ineffective and not accurate. Instead of following VA and getting rid of it, the GOP-led GA embraced it and has used it as a cudgel to bludgeon NC schools. It gave them manufactured evidence that NC public schools were failing when in reality they are not. I am absolutely in favor of seeing this go, but keep a watchful eye out for what they want to replace it with. This omnibus bill gets a yellow.
There’s several more education bills that have been filed but these are the ones that really got my attention. Again, they are just filed and have a long way to go, but certainly worthy of watching.
I do not foresee this legislature passing any education bills that will actually benefit education. Again, the same-old, same-old.
