For background on the House budget, go here, here, and here.
– I am feeling a bit uneasy about the elimination of high school Civics and Economics, Geometry, Physical Science, and United States History tests. Do not get me wrong, I am not a fan of the state testing program. It will take much more than the elimination of a few tests to fix it.
– Rep. Stam’s amendment to allow charter schools to receive lottery money passed. I wonder if it will survive the inevitable budget wrangling.
– A $25,000, non-recurring appropriation for Science Olympiad somehow found its way into the House budget.
– The budget bill sends $1 million in dropout prevention grant funds to each of the following: Communities in Schools, the Carolina Congress of Parents and Teachers (PTA program), and another recipient TBD. The Committee on Dropout Prevention will choose three other “promising” initiatives for consideration. I will be keeping a close eye on this.
– The House sets aside $200,000 for an environmental engineer at DPI “to address increasing environmental concerns in the public schools of North Carolina.” This is much less than the $1.7 million initially proposed for, in my estimation, a “Green Schools Czar” for North Carolina’s public schools.
