A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to permit teacher assistants who are enrolled in teacher education programs to continue to work while they complete their student teaching.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 20 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑310.  Teacher assistants engaged in student teaching.The State Board of Education shall adopt a program to facilitate the process by which teacher assistants may become teachers. 
Teacher assistants who participate in this program:
(1)	Shall be enrolled in an approved teacher education program in a North Carolina institution of higher education;
(2)	Shall be employed in a North Carolina public school;
(3)	Shall not perform their student teaching in the classroom where they are employed as a teacher assistant. To the extent possible, they may be assigned to another school within the same local school administrative unit; and 
(4)	Shall continue to receive their salary and benefits while student teaching in the same local school administrative unit where they are employed as a teacher assistant.
The State Board of Education shall consult with the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities in the development of the program. Each approved teacher education program and each local school administrative unit shall administer this program beginning with the 2005‑2006 academic year."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.