A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE AN ANNUAL BONUS TO HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS IF THE FOUR‑YEAR GRADUATION RATE INCREASES BY MORE THAN TEN PERCENT FROM THE PREVIOUS SCHOOL YEAR OR IF THE FOUR‑YEAR GRADUATION RATE EXCEEDS EIGHTY PERCENT.
Whereas, during the 2000‑2001 school year, even accounting for transiency, approximately forty percent (40%) of North Carolina's high school graduation‑aged students did not graduate from their high schools within four years; and
Whereas, eighteen counties across North Carolina had four‑year high school graduation rates below fifty percent (50%) in the 2000‑2001 school year, and only one county exceeded an eighty percent (80%) high school graduation rate; and
Whereas, approximately fourteen percent (14%) of young North Carolinians between the ages of 18 and 24 still had not completed high school as of school year 2000‑2001; and
Whereas, economic well‑being and employment prospects are profoundly diminished for young adults who have not completed high school, and their economic, social, and employment status predictably will become worse in the years ahead; and
Whereas, the federal No Child Left Behind Education Act requires four‑year graduation rates far above those presently achieved across North Carolina; and
Whereas, the current statewide four‑year graduation rate undermines the right of many young North Carolinians to a sound basic education; and
Whereas, those youth and young adults who have not graduated from high school in four years are more likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system or adult criminal justice system and to disproportionately need and use public social, health, and mental health services, institutions, and assistance; and
Whereas, it is in the best interests of the young people themselves, their communities, the State's economy, and the taxpayers of North Carolina to encourage high school graduation in four years; and
Whereas, effective high school principals play a critical role in developing effective strategies to improve the four‑year high school graduation rate; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  For the 2004‑2005 fiscal year, any North Carolina public high school principal shall receive a one‑time bonus payment equal to:
(1)	One percent (1%) of her/his State‑paid salary for the prior school year if the four‑year graduation rate at the principal's high school has increased by more than ten percent (10%) during that prior school year, or
(2)	One percent (1%) of her/his State‑paid salary for the prior school year if the four‑year graduation rate exceeds or continues to exceed eighty percent (80%) during that prior school year.
SECTION 2.  The definition of "four‑year graduation rate" shall conform entirely with the "complex" definition established in the No Child Left Behind Education Act of 2001 and regulations adopted pursuant to that act.
SECTION 3.  The annual lump-sum bonus shall be paid in accordance with the guidelines and procedures established by the State Board of Education. 
SECTION 4.  Strategies for achieving the increases in the four‑year graduation rate shall be incorporated in every high school improvement plan, shall be reviewed for effectiveness by the local superintendent or his or her designee with the high school principal twice annually, and shall be reported on each occasion to the school's faculty, school improvement team, PTA or PTO board, and the local board of education.
SECTION 5.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to State Aid to Local School Administrative Units the sum of four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) for the 2004‑2005 fiscal year to implement the provisions of Section 1 of this act.
SECTION 6.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2004.