Friday Report – February 10, 2017

The House K-12 education committee gave an unanimously favorable report Tuesday to a bill that gives flexibility to local school districts on K-3 class size restrictions. The bill has the same text of the one that was filed in the General Assembly’s December special session but is now called House Bill 13. It aims to solve staffing problems created by the legislature’s attempt to reduce class sizes.

Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, primary sponsor of the bill, presented the measure to the committee, calling it “a fix for a well-meaning mandate to reduce class sizes in the primary grades.”

The 2016-17 short session budget required the following teacher-to-student ratios, which were supposed to become effective in the 2017-18 school year:

• Kindergarten: one teacher per 18 students
• First grade: one teacher per 16 students
• Second grade: one teacher per 17 students
• Third grade: one teacher per 17 students

But the strict limits left many schools needing more teachers and classrooms for smaller classes and wondering how they would pay for teachers for non-academic subjects like art, music, and physical education. Usually, school districts are allowed to maintain an average classroom size that is higher than the funded allotment. Districts traditionally use the excess funding in the classroom-teacher allotment from the state to hire “program enhancement teachers,” who typically teach non-core classes.

The bill — supported by Democrats and Republicans alike — allows school districts’ average classroom size to exceed the funded allotment ratio by three students. The maximum individual class size, if the bill becomes law, could exceed the funded allotment ratio by six students.

McGrady shared that in his district, in Henderson County, the class size change means schools would need 48 additional teachers and 21 mobile units, costing over $3 million.

The legislature’s fiscal staff said this “plus three, plus three” technique is what has been used for a while now and is recommended by the State Board of Education. “Plus three, plus three” means the average classroom size can be three students higher than the funded allotment, and the maximum individual class size can be three students higher than that.

Some committee members expressed concern that supporting this bill would be seen as an attempt to increase class sizes or that the issue would be overly politicized by news outlets. Rep. Frank Iler, R-Brunswick, said he wanted to ensure the public that he supports smaller class sizes.

“I’ve been told, outside this complex, that this amounts to an increase in class sizes and will be dictated that way in the upcoming elections — that we increased class sizes” Iler said. “However, I see by the chart that we’re actually decreasing class sizes…so I’m going to support the bill, but I want it clear that we’re not for bigger classes. We’re for smaller classes as indicated in the last budget.”

This is the first bill the committee has heard, and many members expressed urgency to move it along quickly — and to keep politics out of the conversation. McGrady said districts need the flexibility before they have to construct their budgets for the following year.

“The key is going to be trying to move this bill as quickly as possible so that boards of education and county commissioners who are setting their budgets very soon can factor in the change here,” McGrady said.

To view a video of the House K-12 Committee Meeting, visit the original EdNC article here.

Reprinted from:

Bell, L. “House committee moves forward bill loosening class size restrictions.” EducationNC. 2/8/17.

Average teacher pay in North Carolina this school year falls short of the $50,000 mark touted by state lawmakers and former Gov. Pat McCrory last fall, according to data released this week by the Department of Public Instruction.

The actual figure is $49,837, which is hardly a huge miss at less than $200 off the mark, but critics say that gap points to deeper problems with how state and local governments pay educators.

“Teachers know better than anyone that political rhetoric in Raleigh doesn’t always match up with reality. It’s time to get serious about raising teacher pay, and I’m working with members of both parties to get it done,” said Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who took office on Jan. 1.

Legislative leaders say that, although the exact number is off the mark, they followed through on their promise.

“Legislative Republicans have met their goal of providing teachers an average $50,000 annual salary. The figure provided by DPI is 99.7 percent, which any statistician would round up to $50,000,” said Amy Auth, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger.

Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson, who also took office last month, said lawmakers are moving in the right direction on salaries, and he plans to keep pushing for more increases.

“Teacher pay is definitely a priority, and that’s something that was mentioned in my conversations with teachers,” Johnson said. “I hope that no one makes too much of a political issue of this, just missing it by about $150. I would hate for that to be a political talking point. We’re moving in the right direction, but teachers want to be in the classroom teaching. They need to be paid what the free market is demanding.”

Teacher pay has long been been both a political and a practical question for North Carolina politicians, who need to keep classrooms staffed and appease voters who consistently rank education as a top priority. Since a major push to raise average educator salaries in the 1990s, pay has eroded under the weight of inflation and more expensive benefit costs.

Top administrators for the state’s two virtual charter schools boasted 2016-17 student withdrawal rates that are a fraction of what they were in the previous year, largely due to recent legislative changes that allow the schools to remove from the equation many students who dropout for various different reasons.

Reporting to the state charter oversight board Tuesday, K12, Inc.-backed North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA) posted a student withdrawal rate of just 5 percent for the first five months of the academic year—a big drop from last year’s 26 percent.

Pearson-backed North Carolina Connections Academy (NCCA) also posted a student withdrawal rate of 5 percent, a big difference from their rate last year at this time of 25 percent. By the end of the 2015-16 academic year, NCCA posted a 31 percent withdrawal rate, which exceeded the legal maximum.

Administrators for both virtual charter schools pointed to the NC General Assembly’s recent move to allow virtual charters to exclude a wide array of students from their withdrawal rates as one reason for the big drops.

Students who don’t have to be counted as “withdrawals” are those who initially state they will only enroll for a finite period of time (e.g., a student takes courses for a couple of months while she is undergoing chemotherapy and states this before enrolling) as well as:

1. Students who regularly failed to participate in courses who are withdrawn under the procedures adopted by the school.
2. Students no longer qualified under State law to attend a North Carolina public school, including relocation to another state.
3. Students who: (i) withdraw from school because of a family, personal, or medical reason, and (ii) notify the school of the reason for withdrawal.
4. Students who withdraw from school within the first 30 days following the date of enrollment.

Noting these legislative changes, article author Lindsay Wagner wrote this last November:

These new exclusions provide the virtual charter schools exceptional latitude in allowing them to exclude nearly anyone who drops out of the online schools from actually being counted in the withdrawal rates going forward. That means it’s possible that the virtual charters will demonstrate a significant drop in withdrawal rates after this first year—even though those figures may not be truly capturing the full scope of who is leaving the programs.

Also remember that the State Board of Education gave virtual charters significant latitude when it comes to counting student attendance — a policy that virtual charter leaders say is necessary to accommodate the unique learning environment they offer.

According to that policy, virtual charter schools would only lose their state funding for a student if he or she fails to show any “student activity,” —as defined by the for-profit charter operators—for at least ten consecutive days.

Both virtual charter schools demonstrated poor student academic outcomes in 2015-16, each receiving F school performance grades in math and Cs in reading. They were also categorized as low performing schools, a designation that requires them to submit a strategic improvement plan. Both schools also received the lowest possible score for student academic growth, a 50 on a scale of 50-100.

The North Carolina General Assembly enacted a virtual charter school pilot program that began in 2015, despite the fact that virtual charter schools nationwide have been plagued by problems that range from poor student academic outcomes, high withdrawal rates and low graduation rates. Tennessee made efforts to shutter its K12, Inc.-backed virtual charter school and the NCAA stopped allowing coursework in its initial eligibility certification process from 24 virtual schools that are affiliated with K12, Inc.

Reprinted from:

Wagner, L. “Recent legislation paves the way for huge drops in withdrawal rates for NC virtual charter schools.” AJ Fletcher Foundation. 2/7/17.

The state reposted a job opening Thursday to allow more people to apply to be superintendent of North Carolina’s newest school system, known as the Achievement School District, which will take control of some the state’s lowest-performing schools.

This is the second time the job has been posted, and it now includes a higher salary range.

When the state Department of Public Instruction initially posted the job last September, they set the salary at $80,000 to $140,000. The new posting shows the salary at $103,362 to $174,603.

“The position was posted at first … as a local superintendent. After reconsideration, it was reposted … as a policymaking exempt position, which changed the salary range,” said Vanessa Jeter, a spokeswoman for DPI. “(It’s) important to note the posting is a range and not a set figure.”

More than 50 people from across the country applied for the job when it was first posted last year. A selection committee headed by Lt. Gov. Dan Forest interviewed dozens of candidates, but no one was ever recommended for the job.

“Some of those (previous applicants) might come back for another interview,” Jamey Falkenbury, a spokesman for Forest, said Thursday. “Since we have had to delay the selection process for a few months, many qualified individuals around the state and country who did not know about the program before have since expressed an interest in applying.”

The committee delayed the selection process, according to Falkenbury, because of an ongoing court battle over whether the State Board of Education or the state superintendent should have the ultimate authority over North Carolina’s education bureaucracy.

To continue reading the complete press release, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hinchcliffe, K. “State reposts job opening for superintendent of Achievement School District; salary range increased.” WRAL. 2/9/17.

Several business leaders lobbied North Carolina lawmakers on Thursday for expanded funding for pre-kindergarten and other early childhood education programs.

The executives cited a new Business Roundtable report addressing the skills gap many U.S. employers face and the link between reading proficiency by the third grade and academic success later in life.

“The idea is, if you can’t read by the third grade, you’re going to be left behind,” said Jim Goodnight (pictured right), founder and chief executive of Cary-based software developer SAS Institute. “As a matter of fact, if you don’t have reading proficiency by the end of the third grade, you’re four times more likely to drop out of school before you graduate high school.”

Goodnight was joined in the lobbying effort by Venessa Harrison, president of AT&T North Carolina; Dale Jenkins, chief executive of Medical Mutual Insurance Co. of North Carolina; Mike Lamach, chief executive of Ingersoll Rand; Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America; Tom Nelson, chief executive of National Gypsum Co.; and Jim Whitehurst, chief executive of Red Hat Inc.

According to the Business Roundtable report, which Goodnight spearheaded, the U.S. will have 5 million jobs going unfilled by 2020 because there’s aren’t enough people qualified to fill them. In North Carolina, two of every three jobs will require postsecondary education or training by 2020.

Developing reading skills early, the report says, helps students become more proficient in technology-based STEM fields, as well as in jobs that require no training beyond high school.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Burns, M. “NC business leaders tout need to read, seek more early education funding.” WRAL. 2/9/17.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Photo Credit: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images.

The state Republican Party is celebrating Betsy DeVos becoming U.S. Education secretary, and has sent a public invitation for her to visit the Tar Heel state.

DeVos has been the most controversial of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees so far. Opponents flooded U.S. senators’ offices with calls, and some North Carolina residents are demanding to know why U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Richard Burr voted for her.

DeVos is a supporter of vouchers and charter schools, stances that Tillis praised in supporting her. Burr defended her record of philanthropy. Detractors question her commitment to public education. She struggled to answer questions at times during her confirmation hearing.

The NC GOP praised DeVos in a press release for her commitment to school choice, and invited her to North Carolina to share ideas.

“As leaders in the school choice movement, we would be thrilled to host Secretary DeVos at the earliest possible time. We look forward to showing her North Carolina’s success, and examine ways how we can expand school choice with a now willing federal government,” state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes said in a statement.

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has opened its application for the 2017 Student Science Enrichment Program (SSEP) grant awards. SSEP supports diverse programs with a common goal: to enable primary and secondary students to participate in creative, hands-on scientific activities for K-12 students and pursue inquiry-based exploration in BWF’s home state of North Carolina. These awards provide up to $60,000 per year for three years. The application deadline is April 18, 2017.

For more information or to access the application, visit https://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/science-education/student-science-enrichment-program.