A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to broaden successful participation by students in advanced placement courses and to create performance incentives for schools and teachers for student excellence in advanced placement courses, as recommended by the house select committee on education reform.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑12(9)c1. reads as rewritten:
"c1.	To issue an annual "report card" for the State and for each local school administrative unit, assessing each unit's efforts to improve student performance based on the growth in performance of the students in each school and taking into account progress over the previous years' level of performance and the State's performance in comparison with other states. This assessment shall take into account factors that have been shown to affect student performance and that the State Board considers relevant to assess the State's efforts to improve student performance. The annual "report card" shall include measures of student participation and performance in Advanced Placement courses."
SECTION 2.  Article 8 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑83.1.  Advanced Placement courses.
(a)	It is the intent of the State to enhance accessibility and encourage students to enroll in and successfully complete more rigorous coursework, such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses, to enable success in postsecondary education for all students. To the extent funds are made available for this purpose, to attain this goal the following shall be provided:
(1)	Students enrolled in public schools shall be exempt from paying any fees for administration of College Board AP examinations, regardless of whether or not the student achieves a passing score on an examination.
(2)	Bonuses shall be awarded to teachers of AP courses for students who earn passing scores on AP examinations.
(b)	Eligible secondary students shall be encouraged to enroll in AP courses to earn postsecondary credit.
(c)	The results of student diagnostic tests administered pursuant to G.S. 115C‑174.18 and G.S. 115C‑174.22, such as the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) and ACT, shall be used to identify students who are prepared or who need additional work to be prepared to enroll and be successful in AP courses.
(d)	Local boards of education shall provide information to students and parents on available opportunities and the enrollment process for students to take AP courses. The information shall explain the value of AP courses in preparing students for postsecondary level coursework, enabling students to gain access to postsecondary opportunities, and qualifying student for scholarships and other financial aid opportunities.
(e)	Local boards of education shall ensure that all high school students have access to AP courses in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Such access may be provided through enrollment in courses offered through or approved by the North Carolina Virtual Public School.
(f)	The State Board of Education shall make available professional development to enable teachers of AP courses to have the necessary content knowledge and instructional skills to prepare students for success on an AP examination and mastery of postsecondary course content.
(g)	The State Board of Education is encouraged to seek partners to assist in improving college readiness of secondary students and to assist secondary schools to ensure that all students have access to high‑quality, rigorous academics, with a focus on access to advanced courses."
SECTION 3.(a)  The State Board of Education shall use funds appropriated in this act to do the following:
(1)	Provide incentive funding to local school administrative units to be distributed to teachers of Advanced Placement (AP) courses as follows:
a.	A bonus in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.00) for each student taught by the AP teacher in each AP course who receives a score of three or higher on the College Board Advanced Placement Examination.
b.	An additional bonus of five hundred dollars ($500.00) to each AP teacher who teaches in a school identified as low‑performing under G.S. 115C‑105.37 by the State Board of Education and who has at least one student scoring three or higher on the College Board Advanced Placement Examination, regardless of the number of classes taught or the number of students scoring a three or higher on the College Board Advanced Placement Examination.
No teacher shall be awarded a bonus pursuant to this subdivision that exceeds two thousand dollars ($2,000) in any given school year. The bonus awarded to a teacher pursuant to this subdivision shall be in addition to any regular wage or other bonus the teacher receives or is scheduled to receive.
(2)	Provide funds to local school administrative units to pay testing fees for AP courses for all students.
(3)	Provide funds to local school administrative units for professional development for teachers of AP courses.
SECTION 3.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of eleven million six hundred sixty thousand nine hundred twenty‑one dollars ($11,660,921) for the 2012‑2013 fiscal year. Of the amount appropriated, seven million one hundred seventy‑nine thousand eight hundred thirty‑four dollars ($7,179,834) shall be used to fund fees for testing in AP courses, two million nine hundred eighty‑one thousand eighty‑seven dollars ($2,981,087) shall be used for teacher bonuses, and one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) shall be used for professional development for teachers in AP courses. The appropriation to fund fees for testing in AP courses shall be expended only if other available receipts, including federal receipts, are insufficient to meet costs. If the appropriation to fund fees for testing in AP courses is insufficient to fund AP course testing fees for all students, funding shall first be provided to fund the full cost of fees for testing in AP courses for students eligible for free and reduced lunch, and the remaining funds shall be prorated for fees for testing in AP courses for all other students.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2012, and applies beginning with the 2012‑2013 school year.