GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	3 

SENATE BILL 21
Education/Higher Education Committee Substitute Adopted 3/2/95
Third Edition Engrossed 3/9/95

Short Title:  Use of Teacher Assistant Funds.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to:  

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January 26, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO TO PERMIT LOCAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION TO USE FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR TEACHER ASSISTANTS AND FOR PROGRAM ENHANCEMENT TEACHERS TO REDUCE CLASS SIZE PURSUANT TO LOCAL SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-238.2(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Local school administrative units that participate in the Performance-based Accountability Program:
(1)	Are exempt from State requirements to submit reports and plans, other than local school improvement plans, to the State Board of Education and the Department of Public Instruction.  They are not exempt from federal requirements to submit reports and plans to the Department.
(2)	Are subject to the performance standards but not the opportunity standards or the staffing ratios of the State Accreditation Program.  The performance standards in the State Accreditation Program, modified to reflect the results of end-of-course and end-of-grade tests, may serve as the basis for developing the student performance indicators adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-238.1.
(3)	May receive funds for differentiated pay for certain State-paid employees, in accordance with G.S. 115C-238.4, if they elect to participate in a differentiated pay plan.
(4)	May be allowed increased flexibility in the expenditure of State funds, in accordance with G.S. 115C-238.5.
(5)	May be granted waivers of certain State laws, regulations, and policies that inhibit their ability to reach local accountability goals, in accordance with G.S. 115C-238.6(a).
(5a)	May use State funds allocated for teacher assistants and positions allocated by the State Board of Education for program enhancement teachers to reduce class size or the student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through the third grade, in accordance with a local school improvement plan.
(6)	Shall continue to use the Teacher Performance Appraisal Instrument (TPAI) for evaluating beginning teachers during the first three years of their employment; they may, however, develop other evaluation approaches for teachers who have attained career status.
		The Department of Public Instruction shall provide technical assistance, including the provision of model evaluation processes and instruments, to local school administrative units that elect to develop dual personnel evaluation processes.  A dual personnel evaluation process includes (i) an evaluation designed to provide information to guide teachers in their professional growth and development, and (ii) an evaluation to provide information to make personnel decisions pertaining to hiring, termination, promotion, and reassignment."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 115C-238.3(b1) reads as rewritten:
"(b1)	Development by each school of strategies for attaining local student performance goals. – The principal of each school, representatives of the building-level staff, and parents of children enrolled in the school shall develop a building-level plan to address student performance goals appropriate to that school from those established by the local board of education. Parents serving on building-level committees shall reflect the racial and socioeconomic composition of the students enrolled in that school and shall not be members of the building-level staff. Parental involvement is a critical component of school success and positive student outcomes; therefore, it is the intent of the General Assembly that parents, along with teachers, have a substantial role in developing student performance goals at the building level. To this end, building-level advisory board meetings shall be held at a convenient time to assure substantial parent participation. The strategies for attaining local school performance goals shall include a plan for the use of staff development funds that may be made available to the school by the local board of education to implement the building-level plan. These strategies may also include requests for waivers of State laws, regulations, or policies for that school. A request for a waiver shall (i) identify the State laws, regulations, or policies that inhibit the local unit's ability to reach its local accountability goals, (ii) set out with specificity the circumstances under which the waiver may be used, and (iii) explain how a waiver of those laws, regulations, or policies will permit the local unit to reach its local goals.  These strategies may also include a decision to use State funds allocated for teacher assistants and positions allocated by the State Board of Education for program enhancement teachers to reduce class size or the student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through the third grade: Provided, however, while considering this decision, the building-level committee shall consider projected attrition rates at the school for teacher assistants and program enhancement teachers.
Support among affected staff members is essential to successful implementation of a building-level plan to address student performance goals appropriate to a school; therefore, the principal of the school shall present the proposed building-level plan to all of the staff assigned to the school building for their review and vote. The vote shall be by secret ballot. The principal may submit the building-level plan to the local board of education for inclusion in the systemwide plan only if the proposed building-level plan has the approval of a majority of the staff who voted on the plan.
The local board of education shall accept or reject the building-level plan. The local board shall not make any substantive changes in any building-level plan that it accepts; the local board shall set out any building-level plan that it accepts in the systemwide plan. If the local board rejects a building-level plan, the local board shall state with specificity its reasons for rejecting the plan; the principal of the school for which the plan was rejected, representatives of the building-level staff, and parents of children enrolled in the school may then prepare another plan, present it to the building-level staff for a vote, and submit it to the local board for inclusion in the systemwide plan. If no building-level plan is accepted for a school before March 15 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which participation is sought, the local board may develop a plan for the school for inclusion in the systemwide plan; the General Assembly urges the local board to utilize the proposed building-level plan to the maximum extent possible when developing such a plan."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 115C-238.6(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Prior to June 30 each year, the State Superintendent shall review local school improvement plans submitted by the local school administrative units in accordance with policies and performance indicators adopted by the State Board of Education. If the State Superintendent approves the plan for a local school administrative unit, that unit shall participate in the Program for the next fiscal year.
If a local plan contains a request for a waiver of State laws, regulations, or policies, in accordance with G.S. 115C-238.3(b1)	or (b2), the State Superintendent shall determine whether and to what extent the identified laws, regulations, or policies should be waived.  The State Superintendent shall present that plan and his determination to the State Board of Education. If the State Board of Education deems it necessary to do so to enable a local unit to reach its local accountability goals, the State Board, only upon the recommendation of the State Superintendent, may grant waivers of:
(1)	State laws pertaining to class size, teacher certification, assignment of teacher assistants, the use of State-adopted textbooks, and the purposes for which State funds for the public schools may be used;
(2)	All State regulations and policies, except those pertaining to State salary schedules and employee benefits for school employees, the instructional program that must be offered under the Basic Education Program, the system of employment for public school teachers and administrators set out in G.S. 115C-325, health and safety codes, compulsory school attendance, the minimum lengths of the school day and year, and the Uniform Education Reporting System.
The provisions of G.S. 115C-12(16)b. regarding the placement of State-allotted office support personnel, teacher assistants, and custodial personnel on the salary schedule adopted by the State Board shall not be waived.
Except for waivers requested by the local board in accordance with G.S. 115C-238.3(b2)	for central office staff, waivers shall be granted only for the specific schools for which they are requested in building-level plans and shall be used only under the specific circumstances for which they are requested."
Sec. 4.  The State Board of Education shall evaluate programs initiated by local school units using teacher assistant funds to reduce class size or the student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through third grade.  The Board shall make an appropriate evaluation of the positions affected, the effect on student achievement, and any other factors the Board deems appropriate.  The Board shall report the results of the evaluation to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on or before July 1, 1996 and annually thereafter through July 1, 1999.
Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1995.