Linda S. Suggs, Legislative Director
State Board of Education
North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction

The Joint Select Committee on Small Business Economic Development voted today to include a  “School Calendar Changes” bill in its list of proposed legislation for the 2004 short session.  A draft of the proposed bill was presented to the committee by Rep. Connie Wilson.

The proposed bill would

*   Reduce the number of required teacher days in the school calendar (220 to 210)

*   Not reduce the number of instructional days for students

*   Require schools to open for students no earlier than August 25

*   Require schools to close for students no later than June 10

*   Provide exceptions for year-round schools and in unusual circumstances (defined as “closed an average of 8 days per year during any 5 of the last 10 years because of severe weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergency situations”)

*   Ensure teachers are paid in August (teachers could request the first full month’s salary no later than Aug 31; subsequent pay dates would have to be spaced no more than one month apart and would have to include a full month’s pay)

*   Eliminate 10 teacher workdays from the school calendar

*   Require that 5 of the remaining workdays be restricted to instructional and classroom administrative duties; local units would not be allowed to impose any additional tasks on those days; one of the days would have to be at the beginning of the school year and one at the end of the school year.

*   Provide that salaries are not reduced as a result of the reduction in teacher workdays (annual salaries would remain the same, but the daily rate of pay would change from 1/22 to 1/21 of the monthly rate of pay)

*   Apply to school years beginning with the 2005-2006 school year.

In presenting the proposed bill to the committee, Rep. Wilson noted that she has received overwhelming e-mail on this issue in the last several weeks, and that her e-mail has overwhelmingly urged legislators to do something on this issue in the short session.  

She referred to a study by a professor at ECU presented to the committee on April 6 estimating additional revenue of about $1 billion by delaying the start of school by 10 days.  She said this finding is consistent with an economic impact study recently done in Texas on the same issue that produced similar findings for Texas.  

She also referenced the “Save Our Summers” website, which she said has collected 10,000 signatures in support of delaying the start of the school year.  She said she has also had a high number of complaints from teachers that NC has the highest number of teacher workdays in the country and that teachers are not able to use these days to get ready, that they are “wasted” days, used for “personal development.”  She quoted an e-mail message from a teacher who said “to be required to come to school for nonsense workshops is offensive.”  

Rep. Wilson noted that this is a very controversial bill, but she said it is important to keep the issue alive for the short session.  Under General Assembly rules, the bill would not be eligible for consideration in the short session unless recommended by an interim study committee.
Debate in committee on the proposed bill lasted over an hour.  Many members of the committee asked questions and offered their perspective.

 Following the debate, Katherine Joyce of NCASA made a statement opposing the proposal and distributed to committee members a letter of opposition signed jointly by NCAE, NCSBA, and NCASA.  Eddie Davis, vice president of NCAE, also addressed the committee opposing the proposed bill, noting that there are a whole lot of parents who do not go to the beach or the mountains and who need time with their children’s teachers.  He served on the Commission for Raising Standards and Closing Gaps while he was a member of the State Board of Education and said that was where he developed a deep understanding of the need for time ­ time for teachers to work with parents, and time for professional ­ not personal ­ development.

All in all, the majority of the committee agreed that there needs to be a great deal more debate on this issue and on issues of the amount of instructional time provided to students in NC.  Rep. LaRoque, chairing the committee, assured members that the bill would receive full hearing in the education policy committees of the House and Senate.

At least one member who voted today to include the bill in the package of proposed legislation from the committee noted that his support today did not guarantee that he would vote for the bill if it reached the floor in the short session.  He emphasized the need for more discussion during the short session and his desire for his colleagues to be able to participate in the debate.