A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to give local school administrative units additional flexibility with regard to the use of funds for mentors.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The State Board of Education shall grant flexibility to a local board of education regarding the use of mentor funds to provide mentoring support, provided the local board submits a detailed plan on the use of the funds to the State Board and the State Board approves that plan. The plan shall include information on how all mentors in the local school administrative unit have been or will be adequately trained to provide mentoring support.
Local boards of education shall use funds allocated for mentor teachers to provide mentoring support to all State‑paid newly certified teachers, second‑year teachers who were assigned mentors during the prior school year, and entry‑level instructional support personnel who have not previously been teachers.
SECTION 2.  The State Board of Education, after consultation with the Professional Teaching Standards Commission, shall adopt standards for mentor training.
SECTION 3.  Each local board of education with a plan approved pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall report to the State Board of Education on the impact of its mentor program on teacher retention.  The State Board of Education shall report on the characteristics of mentor programs that are most effective in retaining teachers.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2003.