North Carolina Receive New School Calendar Bill

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) is pleased that Gov. Mike Easley has signed the School Calendar bill, which was passed during the recent session of the N.C. General Assembly.

NCAE President Eddie Davis said, "Our association thanks Gov. Easley for listening to the concerns of all educators and for taking a comprehensive view of the professional development issues that the bill raised."

Davis continued, "We are particularly pleased that the Governor studied the NCAE proposal for voluntary, consumer-driven professional development that can be offered to teachers next August. NCAE is committed to working with the State Board of Education, local boards of education, the business community and other education groups to ensure that quality professional development is made available to teachers across the state of North Carolina in the future."

Davis indicated that the Teacher Working Conditions survey results, which were released by the Governor's Office a few days ago, showed that teachers want their voices and their input to be valued and honored in the area of professional development.

"The calendar debate has been useful in sending this message to local school systems," Davis said.

For more information see the articles below

Easley to OK shorter school year
Legislation sets bounds at Aug. 25 and June 10

MARK JOHNSON

Posted on Sat, Aug. 07, 2004

Raleigh Bureau

RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley plans to sign a bill -- two times -- on Monday that will prohibit N.C. schools from starting their school year before Aug. 25, a state-imposed regulation on local school districts that was pushed by some parents, beach rental agents and the tourism industry.

Easley is scheduled to sign the bill into law during a morning appearance in Wilmington, hometown of his Republican opponent in this year's election, former state Sen. Patrick Ballantine.

Easley is scheduled to sign the legislation again during an afternoon stop at Tryon Palace in New Bern.

Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Mecklenburg and the bill's chief sponsor, says Monday is her birthday and Easley is delivering "the best birthday present I've ever had."

The legislation will not affect this year's calendar. Starting in 2005, however, state school districts will not be permitted to start their school year before Aug. 25 and must end it by June 10.

The North Carolina Association of Educators, the state's largest teachers union, endorsed the bill. It was originally pushed by, among others, the tourism and beach rental industries, arguing that families will spend more time and money at the state's beaches if they're not heading back to school in the second week of August.

The General Assembly passed the legislation last month, but Easley's signature was briefly in doubt because the bill effectively cut five teacher workdays from the calendar. The NCAE and state school board officials are working on ways to make up for those lost days.

Mark Johnson: (704) 358-5941 or mjohnson@charlotteobserver.com.

North Carolina Association of Educators Reacts to Calendar Bill Signing

"The calendar debate has been useful in sending this message to local school systems," Davis said.

Below please find the specific proposals that NCAE President Eddie Davis sent to the State Board of Education and to Gov. Easley.

Statewide Professional Development Workshops - August 8-12, 2005
HB1464 requires a student start date on or after August 25, 2005. Since this will be a later beginning of the school year, this new configuration allows us to create a wonderful, and perhaps, unique way to deliver high quality professional development to a large number of teachers at the same time across North Carolina.

Please imagine a series of regional workshops in schools, at community colleges, and on university campuses during the second full week of each August. These workshops would be voluntary and in many cases, consumer- driven. The quality of the workshops would be ensured because they could be created and developed by a consortium composed of the State Board, the Department of Public Instruction, the Education Cabinet, the NCASA, the NCSBA, the Public School Forum, the Teacher Academy, the Professional Teaching Standards Commission, the Center for School Leadership, the NC Staff Development Council, the NCAE, and numerous other education entities.

The content of the workshops could focus on such statewide priorities as:

Closing the Achievement Gap
Reading Instruction
Technology
Training for Lateral Entry Teachers
Improved Classroom Management Skills
Outreach to English Language Learners
Improved Home-School Relations
Others

These August workshops would have the potential to demonstrate the "seamless collaboration" for improving education in the state by using the public schools, the community colleges, the UNC System, and the Independent Colleges.

Since the workshops would be held from "Murphy to Manteo," teachers could have geographic choices of sessions. The standard course of study and a common accountability system would allow and perhaps encourage attendance and collegial interactions that cross school district lines. The regional clustering process also would allow smaller schools systems to offer their teachers a wider array of professional development opportunities.

As stated above, the sessions could be consumer-driven and/or supported by the current staff development budgets of local school districts. In addition, the level of quality and the different approach provided by this proposal would encourage interest and funding from the business/industry community.

Critics of this proposal might suggest that most teachers would not be professional enough to attend such workshops on their own time. I would counter with the reality that many teachers currently volunteer to take workshops during the summer, on weekends, and on school evenings. The requirements of license renewal and the desire for individual and school-based improvement would entice a large segment of teachers to take advantage of these opportunities.

LEA Professional Development Councils

Anecdotal conversations during the deliberations on HB1464 and the results of the recently-released Teacher Working Conditions survey reveal that many teachers feel that their input on professional development is not always sought nor valued. Of course, some school districts have an elaborate process to seek teacher ideas and opinions. However, many teachers have indicated that teachers are basically excluded from the creation and development of teacher-targeted workshops.

NCAE proposes that each school district establish a Professional Development Council, composed of a proportionate number of teachers, principals, and central office administrators. The councils would receive input from all schools, align this input with the goals and objectives developed by the school board, and then create the system offerings for the professional needs of the system's personnel.

School Improvement Team Involvement in Professional Development
Similar to the system-wide councils mentioned above, the level of inclusion of the teacher voice into teacher-targeted professional development could be improved if school-based decisions were shared with a larger number of teachers. Many schools do a good job of inclusion already. However, from the comments we have received during the spring and summer, there is room for vast improvement in this arena.

More focus on the roles, responsibilities, and formality of school improvement teams in the area of professional development should be expected and/or demanded.

Other Solutions

North Carolina has a vast resource of master teachers, including the nation's largest number of National Board Certified Teachers. These master teachers should be utilized to help to deliver and support lateral entry and other new teachers. These teachers also would be invaluable in the delivery of many of the workshops mentioned above.

These are some of the immediate suggestions that NCAE would like for you to ponder.

We continue to look forward to working with you and others to move North Carolina closer to the education goal of being "First in the Nation by 2010."

SOURCE North Carolina Association of Educators
Web Site: http://www.ncae.org/

Easley signs law extending break

By Paul Nowell

The Associated Press

Posted on Tue, Aug. 10, 2004

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Coastal communities were in a festive mood Monday as Gov. Mike Easley signed a bill that mandates extended summer vacations for public school students.

"This is something that should have been done a long time ago," said Vann Parker, co-owner of Century 21 Coastland Realty on Emerald Isle. "The kids need to enjoy their whole summer."

The new law requires most school districts to start classes no earlier than Aug. 25 and end by June 10, adding about two weeks to vacations. Teachers, who now get up to 20 planning days a year, will get 15.

Currently, nearly all of the state's school districts begin classes by the first two weeks of August. Supporters of the change said mandating a later start would let students work summer jobs into August and would preserve family vacations.

Rep. Connie Wilson, R-Mecklenburg, the bill's primary sponsor, said opponents of the change already are seeking ways around it.

"This is just one of many battles in a long war," she said. "I'm already hearing from [school] superintendents who want to undo it and apply for as many waivers as possible. So we're not done, but it's nice to win an initial victory."

The change takes effect next summer, for the 2005-06 school year.

Easley, who has made improving public education in North Carolina a primary goal of his administration, expressed concern over the reduction in teacher workdays, but he decided to sign the bill anyway.

He held two signing ceremonies Monday, one in Wilmington, at the Louise Wells Cameron Art Museum, the other at the Tryon Palace Historic Sites and Garden Auditorium.

"I believe at the end of the day this legislation will be a win for education, a win for travel and tourism and, most importantly, a win for our schoolchildren," Easley said.

Easley, who is seeking re-election, said the bill will help bolster the state's tourism industry.

"However, there can be no compromise on teacher quality, and there will be none," he said. "I will never waver from my commitment to ensure this state provides a superior educational system for all of our students."

Before signing the bill, Easley sought assurance from the state Board of Education that teachers would receive the necessary time to prepare their lessons, meet with parents and develop their skills.

Last Thursday, board Chairman Howard Lee sent Easley a letter saying the board had the administrative authority to provide additional staff development for teachers.

"I am not satisfied with the current professional development and neither are the teachers," Easley said. "The state Board of Education and the stakeholders are committed to improving teacher quality. The final results should be continuing to improve the education of our children."

Katherine Joyce, assistant executive director of the N.C. Association of School Administrators, said her group, which lobbied against the calendar change, has concerns.

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