NCGA Short Session Items

The following post was originally run on CaldwellTEAParty.Org on May 13, 2014, just prior to the start of the 2014 NCGA Short Session. Reposting here, as the items below are still relevant to the ongoing legislative battles being waged in Raleigh:

The North Carolina General Assembly convenes tomorrow at noon to begin the short session. Independent North Carolina, an informal NC activists communication network focused on government reform outside of the partisan structure, held our first conference call to discuss issues pertinent to the upcoming session. We are planning to hold follow-up calls once a month. If you’d like to be informed of future calls, you can join the group facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/719751841396840/

Here are a few of the items discussed of which immediate activism is needed – please call and email state legislators today about the following:

north-carolina-fishing-regulations

NC Commercial Fishing Industry Regulatory Burden - Video documentary for information on the plight of  NC Commercial Fishermen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imZll1qBKB0

Watch out for Joint Enforcement Agreement legislation: turns control of NC’s marine law enforcement over to the federal government by accepting grant money with strings attached. Linked is an action plan memo from North Carolina Watermen United for activists to share with NC legislators: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zEusP9Al-rZHnTCecbTGfwHXYzaBUzw_h5CCmC5zLdc/edit?usp=sharing

Common Core / Race to the Top - Video documentary for information on history of Common Core in NC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_tKGwR-tJI

The main issue is grant funding that was given to our state with strings attached. The Race to the Top phase II Grant mandated the implementation of common standards. RttT agreement was a 3-part initiative: common standards, data mining, & school reform/transformation including STEM and teacher professional development – these 3 parts are summarized in a chart on page 11(page 21 of pdf file) of the Race to the Top grant agreement signed in 2010 by Bev Perdue & June Atkinson:

commiecore

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/phase2-applications/north-carolina.pdf

The NCGA placed the grant mandates into NC general statutes in 2011, making compliance a state law. The language MUST be removed from NC’s general statutes if we wish to be rid of data mining, common core, federal testing mandates, etc. A legislative proposal from the Common Core Study Committee is eligible for hearing in NCGA short session. Their proposal forms another committee (more bureaucracy?) to propose “revisions” to the current standards, delegates $250,000 for the new committee to spend on education consultants, keeps us operating under Common Core (though renamed ‘North Carolina standards’), does not address RttT data mining, keeps many of the testing mandates in our general statutes, etc. – the committee’s legislative proposal is on page 21-25 of study committee packet:
http://www.ncleg.net/documentsites/committees/BCCI-6614/LRC%20Committee%20on%20Common%20Core%20State%20Standards%20Report-2014.pdf

Activists – petition legislators to instead offer substitute amendment which strikes all testing mandates & other grant-compliance mandates from NC general statutes, such as the sample legislation shown at following link: /2014/02/making-the-committees-job-easier-legislation-to-repeal-common-core/

*UPDATE* Rep. Larry Pittman was able to incorporate substantial amendments on the House side, including prohibitions on data collection. Action item: Petition Senators to PASS HB1061.

Toll Roads - Public-private partnership HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes plan for I-77; tax dollars fund the lane construction, private company (Cintra) profits from the tolls. NC residents already pay gas tax rates that are among the highest in the nation. In 2013hotlaneblogheader-0625132 the NCGA increased the annual registration fees of electric vehicle drivers to cover their exclusion from the gas tax. The eventual costs of the HOT lanes plan are incalculable as the toll rates would be subject to the whims of a private corporation unaccountable to the taxpayers of North Carolina. For more information about the HOT lanes scam, see: http://wideni77.org/about/

Skip Stam recent email to insiders on how to promote the idea of HOT lanes, published on Daily Haymaker, indicates that NCGA leadership will be pushing to finalize the plans ASAP: http://dailyhaymaker.com/?p=7924

House Bill 267 is still to be passed from the Senate side. Contact Senate members to REJECT passage of the HOT lanes-allowing bill from Senate. Contact info for Senate members can be found here.

The following message is a further action item regarding the HOT lanes issue from Charlotte TEA Party President Christian Hine: “The contract with Cintra has not yet been made available for public scrutiny. The DOT should be contacted as well as the members of the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee which is supposed to review the contract. Let them know additionally that we do not support the project in general. Both general purpose lanes and (worst case scenario) even a traditional toll road are preferred options.”

Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee members’ contact information can be found here: http://pundithouse.com/2014/04/cintras-hot-lanes-a-hot-mess/

Electioneering: Make it Count

Liberty activists! Heading to the polling stations tomorrow to inform voters about Greg Brannon for US Senate? Some strategy in electioneering can ensure that our energy is expended in a manner that does the most to further the state of liberty on the state level at the same time. Get the most out of your advocacy by choosing a polling location that also serves the constituents of a state-level constitutionalist candidate.

Also be sure to find a precinct with a high Republican voter turnout. Here is a map of historically high GOP voter turnout precincts across the state:  https://batchgeo.com/map/nctopprecincts

Not sure where to go? Here are a few races of which the outcome will be of great impact to the state of liberty in NC – reap twice the reward from your activism efforts by helping to advocate for one of these candidates while you advocate for Dr. Brannon!:

 

1924506_748560385163116_1728425933_nSharon Hudson House District 98, Mecklenburg County’s 3-way primary race will determine a Republican candidate for Thom Tillis’s NC House seat. Hudson is a grassroots candidate who has proven herself to be a vocal advocate of NC residents by taking a stand against the HOT lanes public-private partnership scheme pushed by House leadership (Tillis) last session. Her two opponents support and have advocated for the HOT lanes scam, making this election an easy choice for Mecklenburg County residents - as long as someone is at the polls to inform them! Get to the polls and let the voters know this vital piece of information so that we can avoid having another proponent of double taxation filling this important House seat.

 

1623331_1410112429236709_1682104295_nMichael Lavender Senate District 47, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Yancey counties. A crucial race for breaking up the Raleigh Cabal of cronies: Michael Lavender is challenging incumbent Senator Ralph Hise. During the last session, Hise sponsored a bill to give NC’s corrupt Democrat Treasurer more leeway for making risky investments from the teachers’ and state employees’ pension fund – expanding practices that have led to an estimated $30 billion (with a “B!”) unaccounted for and payouts to “Wall Street money managers” nearing an estimated $1 billion from the fund. The money missing from the fund will cause tax hikes for NC residents down the road when pensions come due. Hise also opposes restructuring pension management with the creation of a board of trustees; he advocates the continuation of a sole fiduciary system (keeping Janet Cowell unchecked in charge of management decisions), and as a member of a commission established to review the pension management structure, Hise helped author a minority report to express his opposition to greater oversight. It is for this reason that the State Employees Association (SEANC) has dubbed the Senator “Raleigh Ralph Hise” and dedicated substantial funding to his primary opponent. This election has no democrat challenger, so Tuesday’s winner will serve in the Senate. Help break up the Raleigh Cabal and protect NC teachers’ pensions by electioneering at a polling location for Michael Lavender.

 

1013864_468894356550590_715384476_nAshley Bleau (pronounced like the color “blue”) House District 9 Greenville, NC: Another opportunity to help break up the Raleigh Crony Cabal. Incumbent House Rep. Brian Brown went to Raleigh and promptly turned against the people of his district by sponsoring anti-free market “game fish” legislation, a measure known to decimate coastal communities and completely eliminate the commercial fishing industry of the states in which it has been implemented. Proponents of game fish (making a particular breed of fish illegal to trap and sell) believe that the residents of North Carolina should not have access to our own local seafood, but should instead offer our commodities only to tourists who are willing to visit NC’s coast and catch it themselves, as this system will be worth more money to our state (yeah, right!). A representative who has shown that he is more concerned with this state of his campaign account than he is with the welfare of the people of our state is no representative at all. Ashley Bleau is challenging Brown for the seat. Bleau, a commercial fisherman and seafood restaurant business owner, advocated on behalf of commercial fishermen during Brown’s dangerous game fish hearing, proving that he considers the interests of NC residents to take precedence over outside special interests. If you would like to help electioneer for Greg Brannon, Walter Jones, and Ashley Bleau all on one ballot here is a contact for materials & information.

 

ncgop-mattie-lawsonMattie Lawson Electioneering in NC State House District 6 (Outer Banks – Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, and Washington counties) will allow one to advocate for Greg Brannon, Walter Jones, and Mattie Lawson on one slate – and then celebrate election victory on the beach! Mattie Lawson is a constitutional TEA activist within the Republican Party and a strong proponent of 2nd amendment protections, government transparency and reform measures, lower taxes & a fiscally conservative balanced budget, and state-level nullification of unconstutional laws. Lawson has been vocal in her opposition to state implementation of Common Core, Obamacare, footerpic4and UN or other federal unconstitutional intrusions upon states. NC D6 has a republican-minded population currently represented by a democrat. Lawson won the Republican primary for this seat during the 2012 election, but was narrowly defeated in the general election, losing to Democrat Paul Tine by only 458 votes out of over 41,000! Her since-increased name recognition and Tine’s failure to be an advocate for the residents of the Outer Banks on the issues most affecting them will certainly result in a win for Lawson this general election, but she must first get through the primary election this Tuesday.

 

pittmanLarry Pittman District 82, Cabarrus County. Incumbent Rep. Larry Pittman has proven that he will advocate for the people of his district. Pittman pushed for a full repeal of Common Core (though the other NCGA legislators opted instead to form a committee to “study” the idea), he has advocated for the protection of NC residents’ 2nd amendment rights, and he has been a proponent of state nullification of unconstitutional federal laws. NC residents cannot afford to lose this stateman; he’s been working for us so let’s return the favor – get to the Cabarrus County polling stations to let voters know what a true citizen representative Larry Pittman has been.

Other citizen advocates - the following candidates do not have a primary challenger, but have a proven record of standing up for their constituents (some may need your help after the primary):

Robert Brawley
Michelle Presnell
Mike Speciale
Chris Millis

Who have I forgotten? Feel free to leave information on other local liberty candidates  who are facing primary elections in the comments below!

“I Will Not Accept Bribes” Pledge for NCGA Candidates

Though it is sad that this has become necessary, I would like to ask that NC Patriots print the following very simple pledge for any candidate running for state office:

The “I will not succumb to bribery” pledge.

I will not accept federal dollars through my office in exchange for my vote or my influence over legislation or public policy, nor will I cede my vote on any piece of legislation because someone else has accepted federal dollars, even if the legislation in question is that which I might otherwise vote to approve. I acknowledge that passing legislation in exchange for money amounts to an abdication of authority and selling my vote. I also acknowledge that allowing campaign contributions to influence my vote or the exercise of my powers of office is a violation of North Carolina’s legislative code of ethics per GS120-86, GS138A-31, and GS138A-33. I accept this pledge and do so freely and without reservations, so help me God.

Signed, Candidate for NC Legislature

This pledge is particularly necessary of any upcoming NC House Rep at this time with the formation of NC’s new Public-Private Partnerships Committee aka the Committee on Money Funneling. One very prominent example of a public-private partnership in action is the partnership between Pearson Corporation and the State of North Carolina, which was solidified with the writing of Common Core mandates into North Carolina General Statutes, under Speaker Tillis, in exchange for federal dollars.

The state of North Carolina was not required to place Common Core into our statutes in order to implement them, they were actually already being implemented, and the State Board of Education is able to make decisions on education standards without the copyright product being in our statutes; however having Common Core in the statutes now prevents the State Board of Education from being able to reverse the decision to use Common Core even if they wanted to. Understand: the children of North Carolina have been sold out for federal dollars. How is that for representation?

When Obamacare bribe money was accepted by Gov. Bev Perdue under the terms that North Carolina would develop a state-run healthcare exchange, after uproar from constituents, the North Carolina legislature sent the money back to the federal government and refused the terms. The same should have been done with Common Core, but unfortunately not enough constituents were aware of the situation at the time.

Another example of a public-private partnership agreement is the high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes plan for I-77, advocated by Speaker Tillis despite the fact that NC residents already pay gas tax rates that are among the highest in the nation, and the fact that in 2013 the NCGA increased the annual registration fee of electric vehicle drivers to cover their exclusion from the gas tax. This HOT lanes toll plan will cost North Carolinians, up front, more than double the amount required to simply widen I-77 with general access lanes. The eventual costs of the plan are incalculable as the toll rates would be subject to the whims of a private corporation unaccountable to the taxpayers of North Carolina. For more information, see: http://wideni77.org/2014/03/25/thom-tillis-after-8-years-only-tholl-roads/

Make sure that anyone asking for your vote is willing to denounce the practice of bribery, whether it is conducted as a personal practice or it is conducted through the realm of government. Here are some quotations from across the spectrum about the practice of bribery and government policy:

“Can I say that I think it should be against the law for one state to use taxpayer money to try to bribe businesses in another state to move? Which then causes the target state to use taxpayer dollars to try to bribe the businesses to stay.” -Gail Collins, New York Times

“In fact, in virtually every country in the world bribery is a shameful act. Those who accept bribes do not speak publicly of their bribes anywhere … 1. Bribery corrupts the capitalist economic system. The capitalist system is based on competition in an open and free market, where people tend to buy the best product at the best price. Bribery corrupts the free-market mechanism by getting people to make purchases that do not reward the most efficient producer. 2. Bribery is a sellout to the rich. In any situation ruled only by money, the deeper pocket will prevail. … Bribery produces cynicism and a general distrust of institutions. It destroys people’s trust in the integrity of professional services, of government and the courts, of law enforcement, religion, and anything it touches … Bribery treats people as commodities whose honor can be bought and sold. It thus tends to degrade the respect we owe to other human beings.” -Instructor’s Guide to Engineering Ethics

“Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,” “Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,” Proverbs 10:2

“Again and again after freedom has brought opportunity and some degree of plenty, the competent become selfish, luxury-loving and complacent, the incompetent and the unfortunate grow envious and covetous, and all three groups turn aside from the hard road of freedom to worship the Golden Calf of economic security. … Usually so-called new remedies are not new at all. Compulsory planned economy, for example, was tried by the Chinese some three milleniums ago, and by the Romans in the early centuries of the Christian era. It was applied in Germany, Italy and Russia long before the present war broke out. Yet it is being seriously advocated today as a solution of our economic problems in the United States. Its proponents confidently assert that government can successfully plan and control all major business activity in the nation, and still not interfere with our political freedom and our hard-won civil and religious liberties. The lessons of history all point in exactly the reverse direction.” – Henning Webb Prentis, often paraphrased as:
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury” and “The American Republic will endure until the day that politicians discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”  

Making the Committee’s Job Easier: Legislation to Repeal Common Core

*Update* After this post was written, the subsequent meetings of the NCGA Common Core Study Committee were pushed forward, and the Common Core Study Committee will now conclude before the beginning of the short session (final meeting scheduled for April 24).

Since the Common Core Study Committee will not conclude until after this year‘s NCGA session, and the committee chairmen have yet to put forward any proposal for the reversal of Common Core mandates in the interim, we have drafted a piece of legislation that could be used by any member willing to make the motion to repeal the Common Core mandates.

The purpose of repealing the mandates immediately is so that local boards are not forced to continue implementation and participation while the issue is still being studied. If upon completion of their study, the Common Core Study Committee finds that there are things that they do like about Common Core and wish to keep, they can then propose in a transparent and knowledgeable manner that the aspects that they like be re-added to the statutes. It would be preferable, though, and in keeping with “local controls” if the legislator asked their local board to adopt any aspects that they like so that the state is not placing mandates on local boards and eliminating input from residents on their local district’s education decisions.

Below is language for repealing Common Core mandates from the statutes. The proposed amendments to Article 10A of Chapter 115C aim to achieve the following:

  • Remove mandates placed upon the local education districts and upon the State Board of Education to continue Common Core testing
  • Remove mandates on required testing, while still providing developmentally appropriate assessment instruments to districts that choose to use them (115C-174.11(a), 115C-174.11(c-d), 115C-174.18, 115C-174.22)
  • Remove ACT-alignment mandates from the provided student assessment instruments, as ACT, inc. is an active partner with NGA and CCSSO, and ACT assessments are aligning to Common Core standards (115-C-174.22)
  • Allow for the State Board of Education to administer some testing, with voluntary cooperation of local districts, for the purpose of allowing for comparisons with national indicators of student achievement while maintaining that such testing be conducted only on the smallest sample size necessary for such purposes. (115C-174.11(c)(2))

*Note: it has been stated by legislators that the fy2014 budget does this already by prohibiting the purchase of Common Core assessment devices, eliminating the Common Core mandated tests. This is not the case, though, as the end of course tests have continued (with another round of them just taken last month) even after the intended budget prohibitions. Perhaps the reason for this is that the budget specifies no new Common Core assessments, but NC has already been using the Common Core end of course tests. As it stands, the end of course tests will continue and they are Common Core-aligned. If the budget prohibitions are already meant to eliminate the Common Core testing (and the prohibitions have failed), then there should be no problem with removing the mandated Common Core assessments from the general statutes, in order to fix the conflicting language.

Also of note: The removal of Common Core mandates from NCGS does not eradicate Common Core standards from North Carolina – removing the mandates gives local districts the choice to opt out of Common Core participation or to continue with the standards & associated curriculum.

Please join me in asking NCGA legislators and Common Core study committee members to support and propose legislation to repeal Common Core now!:

Repeal Common Core Mandates

An Act to Reverse the Implementation of Common Core Testing Mandates Within North Carolina General Statutes and to Enable North Carolina Parents, Teachers, and Local Districts to Reclaim Control Over Education

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Article 10A of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended to read:

Article 10A.
Testing.
Part 1. Commission on Testing.

§§ 115C-174.1 through 115C-174.6: Repealed by Session Laws 1995, c. 524, s. 1.
§ 115C-174.7. Reserved for future codification purposes.
§ 115C-174.8. Reserved for future codification purposes.
§ 115C-174.9. Reserved for future codification purposes.

Part 2. Statewide Testing Program.

§ 115C-174.10. Purposes of the Statewide Testing Program.

The testing programs in this Article have three purposes: (i) to assure that all high school graduates possess those minimum skills and that knowledge thought necessary to function as a member of society; (ii) to provide a means of identifying strengths and weaknesses in the education process in order to improve instructional delivery; and (iii) to establish additional means for making the education system at the State, local, and school levels accountable to the public for results. (1977, c. 522, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a); 1995, c. 524, s. 2; 2009-451, s. 7.20(a).)

§ 115C-174.11. Components of the testing program.
(a) Assessment Instruments for Kindergarten, First, Second, and Third Grades. – The State Board of Education shall develop, adopt, and provide to the local school administrative units developmentally appropriate individualized assessment instruments consistent with the Basic Education Program and Part 1A of Article 8 of this Chapter for the kindergarten, first, second, and third grades. Local school administrative units shall may use these assessment instruments provided to them by the State Board for kindergarten, first, second, and third grade students to assess progress, diagnose difficulties, and inform instruction and remediation needs. Local school administrative units shall not use standardized tests for summative assessment of kindergarten, first, and second grade students except as required as a condition of receiving federal grants.
(b) Repealed by Session Laws 2009-451, s. 7.20(c), effective July 1, 2009.
(c) Annual Testing Program. -
(1) The State Board of Education shall adopt the tests for grades three through 12 that are required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant. These tests shall be designed to measure progress toward reading, communication skills, and mathematics for grades three through eight, and toward competencies for grades nine through 12. Students who do not pass the tests adopted for eighth grade shall be provided remedial instruction in the ninth grade.

(2) If the State Board of Education finds that additional testing in grades three through 12 is desirable to allow comparisons with national indicators of student achievement, that testing shall be conducted with the smallest size sample of students necessary to assure valid comparisons with other states.

(3) The State Board of Education shall continue to participate in the development of the Common Core State Standards in conjunction with the consortium of other states, review all national assessments developed by both multistate consortia, and implement the assessments that the State Board deems most appropriate to assess student achievement on the Common Core State Standards.

(4) To the extent funds are made available, the State Board of Education shall plan for and require the administration of the ACT test for all students in the eleventh grade unless the student has already taken a comparable test and scored at or above a level set by the State Board. The State Board of Education shall require the administration of an alternate to the ACT or an alternate to the PLAN precursor test to the ACT to a student who (i) exhibits severe and pervasive delays in all areas of conceptual, linguistic, and academic development and in adaptive behaviors, including communication, daily living skills, and self-care, (ii) is following the extended content standards of the Standard Course of Study as provided in G.S. 115C-81, or is following a course of study that, upon completing high school, may not lead to admission into a college-level course of study resulting in a college degree, and (iii) has a written parental request for an alternate assessment.
The State Board of Education shall ensure that parents of students enrolled in all public schools, including charter and regional schools, have the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding participation in the ACT and the PLAN precursor test to the ACT.
Alternate assessment and ACT assessment results of students with disabilities shall be included in school accountability reports, including charter and regional schools, provided by the State Board of Education.

(d) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the The State Board of Education shall not require the public schools to administer any standardized tests except for those required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant.
The State Board of Education shall adopt and provide to local school administrative units all tests required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant.

§ 115C-174.12. Responsibilities of agencies.

(a) The State Board of Education shall establish policies and guidelines necessary for minimizing the time students spend taking tests administered through State and local testing programs, for minimizing the frequency of field testing at any one school, and for otherwise carrying out the provisions of this Article. These policies and guidelines shall include the following:

(1) Schools shall devote no more than two days of instructional time per year to the taking of practice tests that do not have the primary purpose of assessing current student learning;

(2) Students in a school shall not be subject to field tests or national tests during the two-week period preceding the administration of end-of-grade tests, end-of-course tests, or the school’s regularly scheduled final exams; and

(3) No school shall participate in more than two field tests at any one grade level during a school year; [and]

(4) All annual assessments of student achievement adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(1) and (3) and all final exams for courses shall be administered within the final 10 instructional days of the school year for year-long courses and within the final five instructional days of the semester for semester courses. Exceptions shall be permitted to accommodate a student’s individualized education program and section 504 (29 U.S.C. § 794) plans and for the administration of final exams for courses with national or international curricula required to be held at designated times.

These policies shall reflect standard testing practices to insure reliability and validity of the sample testing. The results of the field tests shall be used in the final design of each test. The State Board of Education’s policies regarding the testing of children with disabilities shall (i) provide broad accommodations and alternate methods of assessment that are consistent with a student’s individualized education program and section 504 (29 U.S.C. § 794) plans, (ii) prohibit the use of statewide tests as the sole determinant of decisions about a student’s graduation or promotion, and (iii) provide parents with information about the Statewide Testing Program and options for children with disabilities. The State Board shall report its proposed policies and proposed changes in policies to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee prior to adoption.

The State Board of Education may appoint an Advisory Council on Testing to assist in carrying out its responsibilities under this Article.

(b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be responsible, under policies adopted by the State Board of Education, for the statewide administration of the testing program provided by this Article.

(b1) The Superintendent shall notify local boards of education by October 1 of each year of any field tests that will be administered in their schools during the school year, the schools at which the field tests will be administered, and the specific field tests that will be administered at each school.

(c) Local boards of education shall cooperate with the State Board of Education in implementing the provisions of this Article, including the regulations and policies established by the State Board of Education. Local school administrative units shall may use the annual tests to fulfill the purposes set out in this Article. Local school administrative units are encouraged to continue to develop local testing programs designed to diagnose student needs.

§ 115C-174.13. Public records exemption.

Any written material containing the identifiable scores of individual students on any test taken pursuant to the provisions of this Article is not a public record within the meaning of G.S. 132-1 and shall not be made public by any person, except as permitted under the provisions of the Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. 1232g. (1977, c. 522, s. 7; c. 541, s. 8; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a).)

§ 115C-174.14. Provisions for nonpublic schools.

All components of the Statewide Testing Program shall be made available to nonpublic schools in the manner prescribed in G.S. 115C-551 and G.S. 115C-559. (1977, c. 522, s. 8; c. 541, s. 9; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1985 (Reg. Sess., 1986), c. 1014, s. 74(a).)

§ 115C-174.15. Reserved for future codification purposes.
§ 115C-174.16. Reserved for future codification purposes.
§ 115C-174.17. Reserved for future codification purposes.

Part 3. Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test Opportunities Encouraged.

§ 115C-174.18. Opportunity to take Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT).

Every student in the eighth through tenth grades who has completed Algebra I or who is in the last month of Algebra I shall be given an opportunity to take a version of either the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) or the PLAN precursor test to the ACT, at the discretion of the local school administrative unit, one time at no cost to the student. The maximum amount of State funds used for this purpose shall be the cost of the PSAT/NMSQT. (1989, c. 752, s. 77(a); 2005-154, s. 1; 2013-360, s. 8.27(c); 2013-363, s. 3.18.)

§ 115-174.19: Repealed by Session Laws 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 677, s. 5.
§ 115C-174.20: Reserved for future codification purposes.
§ 115C-174.21: Reserved for future codification purposes.

Part 4. Student Diagnostic Tests.

§ 115C-174.22. Tools for student learning.

To the extent funds are made available for this purpose, and except as otherwise provided in G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(4), the State Board shall plan for and require the administration of diagnostic tests in the eighth and tenth grades that align to the ACT test in order to help diagnose student learning and provide for students an indication of whether they are on track to be remediation-free at a community college or university.

Part 5. Career Readiness.

§ 115C-174.25. WorkKeys.

To the extent funds are made available for this purpose, the State Board shall plan for and require local school administrative units to make available the appropriate WorkKeys tests for all students who complete the second level of vocational/career courses.

FreedomWorks Endorses Dr. Greg Brannon for US Senate

Matt Kibbe announces FreedomWorks endorsement of Dr. Greg Brannon for US Senate:

Brannon has also been endorsed by Rand Paul, Red State’s Erick Erickson, Ann Coulter, Thomas Massie, and the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR). Today the campaign announced the formation of “Women Back Brannon,” a women’s coalition movement led by Felice Pete, President of the Wake County Republican Women’s Club: http://gregbrannon.com/news/2014/2/5/brannon-campaign-announces-women-back-brannon-coalition