A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to ESTABLISH A CAREER TECHNOLOGY PILOT PROGRAM TO prepare students for the twenty‑first century workforce AND to FOSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) for the 2007‑2008 fiscal year to establish a career technology pilot program to prepare students for the twenty‑first century workforce and to foster economic development.  The State Board of Education shall use these funds to establish three regional career technology high schools across the State. In designing the pilot program, the State Board shall consider the success of the Highland School of Technology in Gaston County, which has a ninety-seven and seven-tenths percent (97.7%) cohort graduation rate.
The State Board of Education shall establish a competitive process for siting the three pilot high schools.  Local school administrative units applying to have a pilot high school must demonstrate a high level of cooperation among the units the pilot will serve and allow for attendance at the school across unit boundaries.  They must also establish a separate advisory board for the school that includes representatives from all local school administrative units served by the school, parents, and local business leaders.
The mission of these high schools shall be to prepare all students to be successful in postsecondary education, the community, and workplace by providing each student with a rigorous and relevant academic, character, and technological education. Each of the high schools shall focus one or more career pathways such as health science and biomedical technology, automotive technology, the construction trades, and communications and information technology. The admissions policy and the size of the schools shall be appropriate for the mission of the schools.
Student learning at these high schools shall be interactive. The schools shall employ best practices and shall offer a blended curriculum reflecting the content of academic and vocational courses. The schools shall recognize multiple intelligences and learning styles and shall provide students with diverse assessments and rigorous challenges. Learning shall be relevant, exploratory, and founded on the best current theory and research. Instructional strategies shall be designed with clear goals in mind. The schools shall teach students to excel not only in their knowledge base and performance, but in their character as well.
The schools shall establish effective partnerships with the business community, establish a mentor program in which members of the business community support and enhance the educational process, and seek the input of the business community on curriculum content.  The schools shall also provide information to the business community about the tax advantages of donating supplies and equipment to the schools.
The local school administrative units in which the regional schools are located and the other units that are served by the schools shall provide information to middle school students and their parents about the high schools.
The State Board of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee prior to January 15, 2008, and January 15, 2009, on the implementation of the pilot program and its recommendations for expanding the program.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.