Legislative Agenda

2007-2008 NCSBA Legislative Agenda
Click here to download a copy of the Agenda

Introduction

The mission of the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA), as an advocate for public education, is to provide leadership and services that enable local boards of education to govern effectively. Through NCSBA, local boards of education are involved in the legislative process to achieve needed school and program reforms. Each of these efforts is focused on the goal that every student is entitled to a free and quality public education.

Every two years, NCSBA initiates a legislative process that enables local school board members to express their opinions on current educational issues. These opinions are collected through an extensive survey process. After a comprehensive analysis of the surveys, the NCSBA Legislative Committee submits the agenda to the Board of Directors for discussion, debate and adoption by the association’s Delegate Assembly.

This document is the adopted agenda of the 2006 NCSBA Delegate Assembly. It represents the collective voice of the state’s 115 school boards.

Guiding Principles

During each legislative session, there are always bills introduced that affect public education that have not been anticipated by the NCSBA survey and approval process.  NCSBA will use three guiding principles to evaluate such legislation:

Unfunded Mandates
NCSBA opposes any legislation that would require school systems to expend additional financial resources without the State providing those necessary resources. NCSBA also will continue to advocate for funding for those mandates that currently exist.

Local Control
One of the three components of the ABCs program is the “C,” which stands for local control. In order for the ABCs to be successful in the long term, local control at the school system level must be preserved and expanded. NCSBA opposes any legislation that attempts to diminish or take away local control and supports legislation that provides additional local control and decision making authority.

Funding Formulas
The General Assembly should provide sufficient funds to guarantee that all funding formulas are fully funded. Additional allocations should be appropriated to address shortages within the funding formulas of current programs.

Appropriation Items

There are many pressing financial needs in the 115 school districts across North Carolina. NCSBA believes the General Assembly should concentrate the State’s resources on the following areas:

TIER 1
Sales Tax Refund/Exemption: Reinstating a sales tax refund or moving to a sales tax exemption is NCSBA’s top funding priority. In 1998, the General Assembly granted local boards of education the authority to collect a sales tax refund, just as cities, counties and other entities are able to do. Beginning with the 2006-07 fiscal year, school boards can only receive a refund for the local sales tax and are no longer entitled to a refund of the state sales tax. This results in a $33 million financial hardship to NC public school classrooms throughout the state.

• Teacher Salaries: NC continues to face significant challenges in the recruitment and retention of teachers. In order for the profession of teaching to be attractive in NC, it is critical that teachers receive adequate compensation.
   

• School Facilities/Construction: NC’s public schools face a need of over $9.7 billion for school construction over the next five years. It is critical that the State assume more financial responsibility and provide tools to local governments to address this staggering need.
   

• Technology Funds:  An investment in technology must be made in order for our children to be competitive in the global economy. Funds are necessary to make sure that schools are properly wired, that systems are set up and maintained to deliver instruction electronically, and that equipment used by students is reliable and up to date.
   

• Fines and Forfeitures:  Two years ago, the courts ruled that the State constitution entitled schools to a number of fines that the State was not previously remitting to the schools. The General Assembly supplanted almost all of the money by diverting the money to the State’s public school fund and then reducing the appropriation to the fund by an equal amount. These funds should not be supplanted and should be returned to the School Technology Fund where they would have gone if not supplanted.

TIER 2

• Funds to attract teachers in critical needs areas

• Funds to expand high school initiatives (i.e., Learn and Earn and New Schools Project)

• Additional funds for academically and intellectually gifted programs

Substantive Items

School Board Fiscal Accountability
NCSBA supports giving school boards fiscal accountability. Over 80 percent of the local boards of education in the country exercise fiscal independence and accountability to the local publics they serve. North Carolina should grant its local boards of education fiscal autonomy by implementing a pilot program that involves a few local school boards.

State Bond for School Construction
Public school construction needs are estimated to be more than $9.7 billion over the next five years. In order to address this substantial need, the State needs to authorize and implement a number of remedies at both the state and local levels. However, a $2 billion statewide bond issue for public schools would have the most immediate impact. 

Teacher Recruitment/Retention
One of the greatest problems school districts face today is recruiting and retaining quality teachers. North Carolina must do more to help local boards of education in this area. Unfortunately, there is no one answer to solving this problem. While NCSBA supports many solutions, we believe the focus should be on the following efforts:

• Increase teacher pay

• Provide flexibility for lateral entry teachers to meet requirements

• Provide signing bonuses in geographically hard to recruit areas

Lottery
Currently, there is no legal requirement that protects lottery proceeds from being supplanted from the three purposes outlined in the statutes—at-risk pre-kindergarten programs and class size reduction; school construction; and college scholarships. The proceeds of the lottery should be protected by a statute or constitutional amendment. In addition, lottery funds should not be diverted from the 115 LEAs to the charter schools for construction.

Kindergarten Birth Date Cutoff
Currently, children must be five years old on or before October 16 to enter kindergarten. North Carolina has one of the latest cutoff dates in the country. NCSBA supports a cutoff date of August 31.

REPEAL

• School Calendar: In 2004, the General Assembly passed legislation that took away the authority of local boards of education to make the best decision for their community and students concerning when the school year begins and ends. This change has had significant repercussions on how education is delivered to the children of North Carolina.  This legislation should be repealed.
   

• Out-of-State Scholarship Provision: In 2005, the General Assembly approved language that would allow out-of-state scholarship students who attend one of the state supported universities to be classified as in-state status for both tuition and the 18 percent out-of-state cap. This change has taken seats away from deserving NC children and shifted NC tax dollars to people that are not from this state. This provision should be repealed.

MAINTAIN

• Mandatory Attendance Age:  The mandatory attendance age of 16 should be maintained.
   

• Charter Schools:  The charter school cap of 100 should be maintained and not expanded. Furthermore, it should be maintained that charter schools receive no public funds for construction.

OPPOSE

• Tuition Tax Credits and Vouchers: NCSBA opposes any tuition tax credit or voucher programs. Implementation of a tuition tax credit or voucher program would divert needed financial resources away from public schools.