GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 1436
Committee Substitute Favorable 5/24/99

Short Title:  Textbook Commission Changes/Funds.	(Public)

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Sponsors:

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Referred to: 

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April 29, 1999

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO EXPAND THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE NORTH CAROLINA TEXTBOOK COMMISSION AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THAT PURPOSE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 115C-87 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-87. Appointment of Textbook Commission.
Shortly after assuming office, the Governor shall appoint a Textbook Commission of 23 members who shall hold office for four years, or until their successors are appointed and qualified. The members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the Superintendent. Six of these members shall be teachers or principals in grades K-5; five shall be teachers or principals in grades 6-8; four shall be superintendents, teachers, or principals in grades 9-12; three shall be parents of students in grades K-5 at the time of appointment; three shall be parents of students in grades 6-8 at the time of appointment; and two shall be parents of students in grades 9-12 at the time of appointment. The Governor shall fill all vacancies by appointment for the unexpired term. The Commission shall elect a chairman, subject to the approval of the Superintendent. The Commission shall meet four times a year or at the call of the chair. The members shall be entitled to compensation for each day spent on the work of the Commission as approved by the Board and to reimbursement for travel and subsistence expense incurred in the performance of their duties at the rates specified in G.S. 138-5(a). Compensation shall be paid from funds available to the State Board of Education."
Section 2.  G.S. 115C-88 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C-88.  Commission to evaluate textbooks offered for adoption.
(a)	The Commission shall evaluate all textbooks offered for adoption.
Each proposed textbook shall be read by at least one expert in the discipline for which the textbook would be used.  The Commission may use external experts if no commission member or advisory committee member qualifies as an expert in a particular discipline.
The Commission may consider any review of a proposed textbook by other experts not involved in the textbook adoption process.  However, these reviews may not substitute for the direct examination of the proposed textbook by a Commission member, an advisory committee member, or any other expert retained by the Commission.
(b)	Each member shall examine carefully and file a written evaluation of each proposed textbook for which the member is responsible.
The evaluation report shall give special consideration to the suitability of the textbook to the instructional level for which it is offered, the content or subject matter, whether the textbook is aligned with the Standard Course of Study, and other criteria prescribed by the Board.
Each evaluation report shall be signed by the member making the report and filed with the Board not later than a day fixed by the Board when the call for adoption is made."
Section 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Education the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 1999-2000 fiscal year to expand the membership and expertise of the North Carolina Textbook Commission.
Section 4.  Sections 3 and 4 of this act become effective July 1, 1999.  The remaining sections become effective January 1, 2000.  Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-87, the additional members appointed to the Textbook Commission under this act shall hold office until the new Governor takes office in 2001 and their successors are appointed and qualified.