Thank you for the letters!

Over 20 of you responded with incredible and compelling stories to share with our legislators. Our lobbyist, Steve Shaber, and NCAE lobbyist, Marge Foreman went to the legislature to talk with Senator Rand today. They had a very positive meeting.Your personal stories were greatly appreciated and did make a difference. We also had a very supportive colleague from Dare County, Mitchell Bateman, contact his friend Senator Basnight's office today, in support of the bill. Special thanks to Mr. Bateman!

Stay tuned in the coming days- we hope to have good news!

THANK YOU ALL!!!

Lobbyist Update

The General Assembly returned to town on Tuesday for the "short session" to adjust the budget for the coming fiscal year, 2008-09.

The Legislature has set a very fast timetable for the session. Any new spending bills had to go to the Legislative staff for drafting by Friday, May 16, and ours did -- see below. All spending bills will have to be introduced by Tuesday, May 27.

The House appropriations subcommittees plan to act on their respective parts of the budget by Friday, May 30. The House plans to finish its version of the budget by Friday, June 6.

Then the Senate takes over. It plans to do all its sub-committee work by Friday, June 13. It plans to pass its version of the budget by June 20.

The House and Senate intend to work out all their differences and finish the budget by June 27.
Pigs will fly on June 28. Hell freezes the following day.

Kidding aside, Rep. Ray Rapp and Sen. Vernon Malone have each, separately, asked the Legislature's staff to prepare a bill that would give school psychologists and others with "six year" degrees and PhD's percentage bonuses instead of the flat dollar bonuses that have been in place for so many years. These two bills will be introduced as soon as possible, and in plenty of time to be considered during this short session, however short and fast it may be.

Steve Shaber
NCSPA Lobbyist

Dropout Prevention Exerpt: April 2008 From the Ground Up Newsletter

www.ncjustice.org
Dropout Prevention Commission Agrees to More Funding to Combat Problem

The Joint Legislative Commission on Dropout Prevention and High School Graduation began the process of finalizing its list of recommendations for the upcoming 2008 session. When the committee met last week, there was a great deal of discussion about raising the dropout age as well as the need to allocate additional funding for dropout prevention grants. The entire General Assembly will receive the commission’s report and have a chance to accept or decline the recommendations when the session begins in May. Highlights of the report include the following:

• The State Board of Education and the State Board of Community Colleges are to create a system to identify students who have dropped out of high school and enrolled in a community college GED or adult education program.
• The NC General Assembly will appropriate $2,700,000 to hire dropout prevention coordinators for high schools that have a four-year graduation rate of less than 65%.
• The Joint Legislative Commission on Dropout Prevention and High School Graduation will continue until 2010 and will present a final report on recommendations and proposed legislation before the 2011 legislative session.
• The Committee will meet again on April 29th to finalize the list of recommendations.

Mattie C. Stewart Foundation Partners with NC To Decrease Dropout Rate

The Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, along with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Executive Women International, has partnered with the Winston-Salem, Durham, Edgecombe, and New Hanover school districts to unveil a powerful new documentary to address the alarming national dropout crisis. The film, appropriately titled Inside Out , is one tool that NC educators and communities can use to combat the high dropout rate in the state. The documentary, which shares the life stories of inmates in the Alabama Prison System, is the brainchild of Shelly Stewart, a former homeless student who later became a successful business man.

Throughout the film, the inmates provide words of wisdom and a message of encouragement to potential dropouts. Each inmate echoes the importance of not only completing high school but also of making wise decisions that will prevent them from ending up in the prison system.

Viewings will be held in Edgecombe, New Hanover and Durham counties in April and May. For more information about the film and the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation visit their website http://www.mattiecstewart.org/.

Fitzsimon File Summarizes Impact of Legislative Budget Numbers

By Chris Fitzsimon

"The numbers Wednesday morning brought good news and bad news to the pundits, politicos and policy advocates poring over them, trying to understand what happened and looking for information to help them predict what will happen next..."

Read on: http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=preview_message&fn=Link&t=1&ssid=6663&id=jvoxygz1htmg8w6hizo066m5pxa45&id2=1sr4z6otou57u0hob5ldvp2wa74ui