GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	4 

SENATE BILL 21
Education/Higher Education Committee Substitute Adopted 3/2/95
Third Edition Engrossed 3/9/95
House Committee Substitute Favorable 5/31/95

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 PERMIT LOCAL BOARDS OF EDUCATION TO USE FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR TEACHER ASSISTANTS 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 to reduce class size or the student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through the third grade, in accordance with a local school improvement plan, so long as no State-funded teacher assistant positions are abolished if the positions are filled when the local school improvement plan is amended or approved by the building-level staff.
(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.  The strategies may include a decision to use State funds allocated for teacher assistants to reduce class size or the student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through the third grade in accordance with G.S. 115C-238.2(b)(5a).  This decision shall be based upon a consideration of projected attrition rates at the school for teacher assistants.  The 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.
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.  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. 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1995.