GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
1993 SESSION

CHAPTER 103
SENATE BILL 123

AN ACT TO CHANGE THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS OF THE CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOL FUNDING PILOT, TO DEFINE "WORLD CLASS PILOT SCHOOL", AND TO MAKE OTHER TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING CHANGES.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  Chapter 986 of the 1991 Session Laws (1992 Regular Session) reads as rewritten:
"Section 1.  The State Board of Education may authorize a three-year pilot project in the Mecklenburg County School Administrative Unit so that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education may reduce class size in grades kindergarten through 3 in certain schools by using State funds appropriated for teacher assistants for certificated teachers.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education shall use this authority only if the parents and the certificated employees in a school vote to approve of the board's plan for using the authority at their school:
(a)	If the board develops a plan for the kindergarten level at a school, the certificated kindergarten staff and the parents of kindergarten children enrolled in the school shall vote by secret ballot on the plan. The board shall implement the plan only if a majority of those voting in each group approve the plan.
(b)	If the board develops a plan for grades 1 through 3 at a school, the certificated staff at the school for those grades and the parents of children enrolled in those grades in the school shall vote by secret ballot on the plan. The board shall implement the plan only if a majority of those voting in each group approve the plan.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education shall not abolish any State-funded teacher assistant position that is filled on June 1, 1992, to implement this pilot project, and no more than 75 State-funded teacher assistant positions shall be abolished to implement this pilot project.
The pilot project may be implemented in no more than 18 World Class Pilot Schools, which shall be designated by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education.
Sec. 1.1.  A school may be designated a World Class Pilot School by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education if the goals for the school include (i) offering core areas of instruction in mathematics, science, history, geography, and English, as well as instruction in foreign languages, the arts, career development, physical education, and health; (ii) setting high standards for achievement for each student; (iii) implementation of instructional methods which recognize that students learn at different rates using varying learning styles; (iv) involving the entire school community in educating children; and (v) encouraging experimentation and innovation to maximize learning for each student.
Sec. 2.  The State Board shall conduct an independent evaluation to study the impact of this pilot project on student performance and shall report the results of its study to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee by January 1, 1995.
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1992, and expires July 1, 1995."
Sec. 2.  This act is effective upon ratification.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 2nd day of June, 1993.

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Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

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Daniel Blue, Jr.
Speaker of the House of Representatives