North Carolina HB 596: Study/MPO Voting Power Distribution.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 596

Short Title: Standards Advisory Commission. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Torbett and Blackwell (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 1, 2025
*H596-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO CREATE THE STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY ADVISORY COMMISSION 2
TO RECOMMEND ACADEMIC STANDARDS TO THE STATE BOARD OF 3
EDUCATION FOR APPROVAL. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 115C-12(9c) reads as rewritten: 6
"(9c) Power to Develop Content Standards. – The Board shall adopt the standard 7
course of study as provided in Part 1 of Article 8 of this Chapter. 8
a. The Board shall develop a comprehensive plan to revise content 9
standards and the standard course of study in the core academic areas 10
of reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, geography, and 11
civics. The Board shall involve and survey a representative sample of 12
parents, teachers, and the public to help determine academic content 13
standard priorities and usefulness of the content standards. A full 14
review of available and relevant academic content standards that are 15
rigorous, specific, sequenced, clear, focused, and measurable, 16
whenever possible, shall be a part of the process of the development 17
of content standards. The revised content standards developed in the 18
core academic areas shall (i) reflect high expectations for students and 19
an in-depth mastery of the content; (ii) be clearly grounded in the 20
content of each academic area; (iii) be defined grade-by-grade and 21
course-by-course; (iv) be understandable to parents and teachers; (v) 22
be developed in full recognition of the time available to teach the core 23
academic areas at each grade level; and (vi) be measurable, whenever 24
possible, in a reliable, valid, and efficient manner for accountability 25
purposes. 26
b. High school course content standards shall include the knowledge and 27
skills necessary to pursue further postsecondary education or to attain 28
employment in the 21st century economy. The high school course 29
content standards also shall be aligned with the minimum 30
undergraduate course requirements for admission to the constituent 31
institutions of The University of North Carolina. 32
c. The Board also shall develop and implement an ongoing process to 33
align State programs and support materials with the revised academic 34
content standards for each core academic area on a regular basis. 35

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 596-First Edition
Alignment shall include revising textbook criteria, support materials, 1
State tests, teacher and school administrator preparation, and ongoing 2
professional development programs to be compatible with content 3
standards. The Board shall develop and make available to teachers and 4
parents support materials, including teacher and parent guides, for 5
academic content standards. The State Board of Education shall work 6
in collaboration with the Board of Governors of The University of 7
North Carolina to ensure that teacher and school administrator degree 8
programs, ongoing professional development, and other university 9
activity in the State's public schools align with the State Board's 10
priorities." 11
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 115C-81.5 reads as rewritten: 12
"§ 115C-81.5. Standard course of study. 13
(a) All children can learn. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the mission of the 14
public school community is to challenge with high expectations each child to learn, to achieve, 15
and to fulfill his or her potential. With that mission as its guide, the State Board of Education 16
shall adopt a plan of education and a standard course of study as provided in G.S. 115C-12(9c) 17
this Part for the public schools of the State. It is the intent of the General Assembly that the focus 18
of State educational funding shall be to ensure that each student receives a sound basic education. 19
It is further a goal of the General Assembly to provide supplemental funds to low-wealth counties 20
to allow those counties to enhance the instructional program and student achievement. Instruction 21
shall be offered in the areas of arts, communication skills, physical education and personal health 22
and safety, mathematics, media and computer skills, science, second languages, social studies, 23
and career and technical education. In addition, instruction shall be offered in all of the areas 24
provided in this Part. 25
(b) The standard course of study shall provide all of the following: 26
(1) A core curriculum for all students that takes into account the special needs of 27
children. 28
(2) A set of competencies, by grade level, for each curriculum area. 29
(3) A list of textbooks for use in providing the curriculum. 30
(4) Standards for student pe