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Senate. Bil.t 2 <br /> Briefing Paper <br /> <br /> "If a local plan contains a request for a waiver of <br /> State laws, regulations or policies . . . the State <br /> Superintendent shall determine whether and to what <br /> extent the identified laws, requlations, or policies <br /> should be waived. The State Superintendent shall <br /> present that plan and his determination to the State <br /> Board of Education." <br /> <br /> The law, in this section of Senate Bill 2 makes much <br /> clearer the intent of the General Assembly as it applies to <br /> flexibility. It stipulates that the State Board, with the <br /> recommendation of the State Superintendent, may grant waivers <br /> of: <br /> <br /> "Class size, teacher certification, assignment of <br /> teacher assistants, the use of State-adopted textbooks, <br /> and the purposes for which State funds for the public <br /> schools may be used." <br /> <br /> The phrase, "the purposes for which State funds . . . <br /> may be used" implies that the State Board could grant much <br /> broader flexibility in virtually any area of state funding. <br /> Indeed, the only areas that have clearly been excluded from <br /> flexibility are salary schedules and benefits, State laws <br /> pertaining to G.S. 115C-325, Basic Education Program <br /> instructional programs, health and safety codes, compulsory <br /> school attendance, minimum lengths of the school day and <br /> year, and the Uniform Education Reporting System. <br /> <br />----~ of Admission" Accountability--The <br /> <br /> The heart of Senate Bill 2 is the requirement that <br /> school units wanting either flexibility or differentiated pay <br /> or both must submit a local school improvement plan that has <br /> clear, measurable student performance goals. The bill makes <br /> it clear that local plans and goals are not intended to <br /> replace the existing accreditation requirements of the State <br /> Board of Education. The law requires that the State Board: <br /> <br /> * Establish "guidelines for developing school <br /> improvement plans with three-to-five year student <br /> performance goals and annual milestones to measure <br /> progress in meeting these goals." <br /> <br /> * Determine "a set of student performance indicators <br /> for measuring andassessing student performance in <br /> the participating local school administrative <br /> units. These indicators may include attendance <br /> rates, dropout rates, test scores, parent involvement <br /> and post-secondary outcomes." <br /> <br /> The law also outlines a major change in that <br /> participating school units are not subject to the opportunity <br /> standards of the accreditation system~ It states that: <br /> <br /> Page 10 <br /> <br /> <br />