North Carolina § 115C-296 - 2. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification.

§ 115C-296. 2. National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification.

State Policy. - It is the goal of the State to provide opportunities and incentives for good teachers to become excellent teachers and to retain them in the teaching profession; to attain this goal, the State shall support the efforts of teachers to achieve national certification by providing approved paid leave time for teachers participating in the process, lending teachers the participation fee, and paying a significant salary differential to teachers who attain national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). Definitions. - As used in this subsection: A "North Carolina public school" is a school operated by a local board of education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety, or The University of North Carolina; a school affiliated with The University of North Carolina; or a charter school approved by the State Board of Education. A "teacher" is a person who: Either: Is certified to teach in North Carolina; or Holds a certificate or license issued by the State Board of Education that meets the professional license requirement for NBPTS certification. Is a State-paid employee of a North Carolina public school. Is paid on the teacher salary schedule. Spends at least seventy percent (70%) of his or her work time: In classroom instruction, if the employee is employed as a teacher. Most of the teacher's remaining time shall be spent in one or more of the following: mentoring teachers, doing demonstration lessons for teachers, writing curricula, developing and leading staff development programs for teachers; In work within the employee's area of certification or licensure, if the employee is employed in an area of NBPTS certification other than direct classroom instruction; or As an instructional coach, as classified by the Department of Public Instruction, in a Title I school. As used in this sub-sub-subdivision, a Title I school is a school identified under Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. Payment of the NBPTS Participation Fee; Paid Leave. - The State shall lend teachers the participation fee and shall provide up to three days of approved paid leave to all teachers participating in the NBPTS program who: Have completed three full years of teaching in a North Carolina public school; and Have (i) not previously received State funds for participating in any certification area in the NBPTS program, (ii) repaid any State funds previously received for the NBPTS certification process, or (iii) received a waiver of repayment from the State Board of Education. Repealed by Session Laws 2009-451, s. 7.30(b), effective July 1, 2010, and applicable beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. Repayment of the Application Fee. - A teacher shall repay the application fee to the State Education Assistance Authority within three years. The commencement of cash repayment shall begin 12 months following the disbursement of the loan funds. The State Education Assistance Authority may forgive the loan upon the death of the teacher or upon an injury deemed to leave the teacher totally and permanently disabled. Repealed by Session Laws 2009-451, s. 7.30(b), effective July 1, 2010, and applicable beginning with the 2010-2011 school year. Repealed by Session Laws 2009-451, 7.41(a), effective June 30, 2011. Rules. - The State Education Assistance Authority shall adopt rules and guidelines regarding the loan and repayment of the NBPTS application fee. The State Board shall adopt policies and guidelines to implement the remainder of this section. The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was established in 1987 as an independent, nonprofit organization to establish high standards for teachers' knowledge and performance and for development and operation of a national voluntary system to assess and certify teachers who meet those standards. Participation in the program gives teachers the time and the opportunity to analyze in a systematic way their professional development as teachers, successful teaching strategies, and the substantive areas in which they teach. Participation also gives teachers an opportunity to demonstrate superior ability and to be compensated as superior teachers. To receive NBPTS certification, a teacher must successfully (i) complete a process of developing a portfolio of student work and videotapes of teaching and learning activities and (ii) participate in NBPTS assessment center simulation exercises, including performance-based activities and a content knowledge examination. Teachers participating in the program shall take paid leave only with the approval of their supervisors. All funds appropriated to, or otherwise received by, the Authority to provide loans to teachers pursuant to this section, all funds received as repayment of loans, and all interest earned on these funds shall be placed in a trust fund. This fund shall be used only for loans made pursuant to this section and administrative costs of the Authority. History (2000-67, s. 8.16; 2000-137, s. 3; 2008-86, s. 1; 2009-451, ss. 7.30(b), 7.41(a); 2009-575, s. 3H; 2010-31, s. 7.11(a); 2011-145, s. 19.1(h), ( l ); 2014-100, s. 8.21; 2017-186, ss. 2(ddddd), 3(a); 2018-142, s. 16.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2007-323, ss. 7.23(a) and (b), provides: "(a) Funds are appropriated in this act to support the selection and hiring of new literacy coaches for middle schools or other public schools with an eighth grade class. No more than one literacy coach shall be placed in each such school. The State Board of Education, in consultation with the North Carolina Teacher Academy, shall develop a site selection process including formal criteria. The site must receive formal approval by the State Board of Education to receive funds for this purpose. To be selected schools must: "(1) Contain an eighth grade class, and "(2) Ensure that literacy coaches will have no administrative responsibilities in the schools in which they are placed. "(b) National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certified teachers serving in these positions shall be exempt from the requirements in G.S. 115C-296.2(b)(2) d. and shall remain on the NBPTS teacher salary schedule." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2007'." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2007-445, s. 1(a)-(c), provides: "(a) The State Board of Education shall designate schools which meet two or more of the following criteria as high-need schools: "(1) More than forty-five percent (45%) of students perform at Level 1 or Level 2 on end-of-grade or end-of-course tests, "(2) Teacher turnover rate is greater than twenty-five percent (25%), or "(3) More than eighty percent (80%) of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. "(b) Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, to ensure that the schools designated as high-need schools by the State Board of Education have the high quality staff and the additional support they need, the following modifications to law, policy, or both shall apply: "(1) National Board Certified Teachers who serve as mentors, literacy coaches, or in other nonadministrative instructional leadership positions at these schools shall retain the twelve percent (12%) salary increment for NBPTS certification, notwithstanding G.S. 115C-296.2 . "(2) National Board Certified Teachers, teachers of the year, and other categories of accomplished teachers designated by the State Board of Education shall be given the academic freedom at these schools to use research-based practices in the classroom that go beyond the standard course of study. "(c) The State Board of Education shall consider the following strategies to ensure that the high-need schools have the high quality staff and the additional support they need and shall report by January 15, 2008, to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the cost of implementing for the 2008-2009 fiscal year: "(1) Adding additional teacher positions at these schools to reduce class size. "(2) Providing incentives to attract National Board Certified Teachers to these schools. "(3) Employing teachers at these schools for 11 months. These teachers shall use the extra month of employment for curriculum development, staff development, and planning for the next school year." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2009'." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 28.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2011-145, s. 7.13A, provides: "The State Board of Education shall not require more than five semester hours or seven and one-half units of renewal credits in order to renew a North Carolina Standard Professional 2 professional educator's license." Session Laws 2011-145, s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2011.'" Session Laws 2011-145, s. 32.2, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2011-2013 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2011-145, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Session Laws 2017-186, s. 3(a), provides: "The Revisor of Statutes shall change any additional references in the General Statutes to the 'Division of Adult Correction' to the 'Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice.' " The substitution was made in subdivision (b)(1), but the substitution resulted in duplicative language. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2008-86, s. 1, effective July 1, 2008, rewrote subdivision (b)(2)d. and added subsection (e1). Session Laws 2009-451, s. 7.30(b), effective July 1, 2010, and applicable beginning with the 2010-2011 school year, in subsection (a), substituted "lending teachers the participation fee" for "paying the participation fee" near the middle; in subsection (c), in the introductory language, substituted "lend teachers the participation fee" for "pay the NBPTS participation fee"; deleted subsection (d), regarding repayment of participation fees; added subsection (d1); deleted subsection (e), regarding repayment by a teacher who does not teach for a year after completing the process; and in subsection (f), added the present first sentence, and inserted "the remainder of" in the second sentence. Session Laws 2010-31, s. 7.11(a), effective July 1, 2010, added the last two sentences in subsection (d1). Session Laws 2011-145, s. 19.1(h) and ( l ), effective January 1, 2012, in subdivision (b)(1), substituted "Division of Adult Correction of the Department of Public Safety" for "Department of Correction" and substituted "Division of Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety" for "Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention." Session Laws 2014-100, s. 8.21, effective July 1, 2014, in subdivision (b)(2), made punctuation changes, added subdivision (b)(2)d.3. and made related changes. Session Laws 2017-186, s. 2(ddddd), effective December 1, 2017, inserted "Adult Correction and" preceding "Juvenile Justice" in subdivision (b)(1). Session Laws 2018-142, s. 16, effective December 15, 2018, in subdivision (b)(1), deleted "the Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice of the Department of Public Safety" following "Public Safety."