NC House panel meets to examine K-12 education's future

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A study panel composed of several North Carolina House members and charged with considering wide-ranging changes to K-12 education held its first meeting on Monday.

The House Select Committee on an Education System for North Carolina’s Future could spend up to two years examining a host of governance, course-of-study and personnel issues, making recommendations and generating legislation, said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican and senior co-chairman. The committee could present an interim report by May. Any legislation would still have to acted on by the full House and Senate before it could become law.

Committee members mentioned challenges with improving levels of basic literacy among school children, parental involvement and student preparation to become working adults. Others discussed increasing the number of teacher candidates and expanding non-teaching staff in schools.

The committee heard a presentation on Monday from Jeanette Doran with the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, largely about the interplay between the State Board of Education, General Assembly and superintendent of public instruction. Current Superintendent Catherine Truitt is expected to address the panel in February. Torbett said the committee should expect to hear from teachers and take research excursions out of Raleigh.