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The N.C. Public Charter Schools Association board of advisors is adding its voice to the chorus opposing creation of a governing board for charter schools separate from the State Board of Education.

State Board Chairman Bill Cobey, one of Gov. Pat McCrory's appointees, says he doesn't want a separate board and questioned its constitutionality. Senate Bill 337 passed the Senate largely along party lines, with Democrats opposed, and now sits in the House.

The bill would set up a charter school board to review and accept charter applications and make sure the schools comply with standards. The State Board of Education could overrule charter board decisions by a three-fourths vote.

The State Board has a charter advisory board that reviews applications and makes recommendations, but the State Board has the last word.

The association appears to be changing its position on the special board. The email Monday announcing the advisors' vote said "The Association had said it initially supported…."

And on April 3, the association sent out a press release thanking the bill sponsors, praising the legislation, and detailing more changes the association wanted.

But association executive director Eddie Goodall said the association never supported a separate charter board. "I don't think I was saying that," Goodall said. "It might have looked like that."

The state Senate passed a bill creating a separate regulatory board for charter schools by a vote of 32-17.

The charter school board would be responsible for handing out new charters and shutting down inadequate schools, diluting the State Board of Education's powers. State Board Chairman Bill Cobey opposes the bill and questions its constitutionality.

Sen. Jerry Tillman, an Archdale Republican and the bill's sponsor, said charters give parents choice. "When you have a choice, the free market works," he said.

Democrats said Republicans were over reaching.

"Keep this up and you're going to destroy the very thing you're trying to promote," said Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, an Asheville Democrat.

The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

Former congressman Bill Cobey was elected chairman of the State Board of Education on Wednesday.

Cobey replaces Bill Harrison, a former school district superintendent who left the board earlier this year after his term expired.

R.L. "Buddy" Collins of Forsyth County was elected vice president. Equality NC, a gay advocacy group, tried to get Gov. Pat McCrory to withdraw Collins' appointment.

Cobey is a former chairman of the state Republican Party. He was sworn in as a board of education member along with five other McCrory appointees.

Equality NC Monday asked Gov. Pat McCrory to reconsider his appointment of Buddy Collins to the state Board of Education, saying it has concerns about his opposition to anti-bullying measures aimed at protecting gay, lesbian and transgender students.

Collins, an attorney, serves on the Forsyth County Board of Education, was recently nominated by McCrory to serve on the state board.

“Gov. McCrory should reconsider his appointment of Buddy Collins to the State Board of Education,'' said Stuart Campbell, executive director of Equality NC. “Surely, there are others Gov. McCrory could appoint that would protect the rights of all North Carolina students. All students, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve a high quality education, in a safe environment and free of harassment of any kind.''

According to the group, Collins voted against a policy revision in 2009 that added sexual orientation to the list of characteristics in its rules prohibiting bullying and harassing behavior.

They also had other complaints. They said Collins told schools Supt. Don Martin in 2003 that he was “disappointed that Martin allowed his staff to to interact with the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Network. In a column in the Winston-Salem Journal, Collins wrote in 2002, that same-sex unions had an effect of “disintegration of the American family.

And he said in 2002, that the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Network has an agenda to use public schools as a place to seek acceptance of its sexual practices.''

The State Board of Education is set to approve a new policy Thursday that's in line with the law requiring most 3rd graders to read at grade level before they're promoted. The policy still needs to jump the state regulatory hump of the Rules Review Commission, so it will be about six months before it's on the books.

The rule is supposed to be in place for the next school year.

Last year, about 31 percent of 3rd graders didn't' pass the end of grade reading test. But no one expects a third of all 3rd graders to be held back a grade.

According to a guidebook explaining how it'll all work, kids get to take the test a second time. The law includes ways for children to be promoted even if they fail the reading test, called "good cause" exemptions.

Today might have been Bill Harrison's last day as chairman of the State Board of Education. The people who know for sure aren't saying.

Former Gov. Bev Perdue named Harrison to run the board in 2009, but his term expired last year. Senate Republican leaders declined last session to reappoint board members whose terms had expired or make new appointments so the new governor could put in people he wanted.

Ricky Diaz, Gov. Pat McCrory's spokesman, said a few days ago he did not know when the announcement of a new chairman was coming. Harrison said this week he hadn't heard from McCrory when he'd be replaced.

"Let's just say I'm packing,'" Harrison quipped.

The N.C. Association of Educators has hired Ann McColl to be its first in-house lawyer.

In addition to legal work, she'll work on policy and lobbying.

McColl moves to NCAE from her job as lobbyist for the State Board of Education, where she's been for about two years.

"Ann brings a wealth of experience, talent, and commitment to our Association's work," said NCAE President Rodney Ellis. "Whether the issue is employment, working conditions, or education reform, Ann believes that educators deserve a strong voice. NCAE is stronger with Ann on our team."

The State Board of Education plans to go its own way in crafting a budget request for North Carolina's public schools for the next two years.

State budget officials directed the Department of Public Instruction, like other state agencies, to come up with a couple of budget scenarios for the state's public schools for the next biennium -- one with a 2 percent increase,  one with a 2 percent decrease.

On Thursday, the State Board of Education expressed its distaste for either scenario. The board is likely to put forth a third option, its preference, when it votes on a budget later this fall.

The state Public Charter School Advisory Council this week recommended 25 charter schools get the okay to open in 2013.

The recommendations go to the state Board of Education, which will discuss them in August and vote in September.

The advisory council interviewed representatives of 30 schools this week. Sixty-three schools submitted charter applications for consideration.

Five schools planned for local counties were recommended for approval: Willow Oak Montessori in Chatham, The Institute for the Development of Young Leaders in Durham, Longleaf School of the Arts in Wake, and the Expedition School and The Howard and Lillian Lee Charter School in Orange.

The Lee school was approved earlier this year in a 'fast-track' process that would have allowed it to open this fall, but did not get its building permits in time.

State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison writes in his blog that more school employees will lose their jobs if the state does not replace the $258 million in federal "edu-jobs" money that school districts are using to pay their employees.

Districts must spend all their federal stimulus money before the end of this year.

Harrison is responding Senate leader Phil Berger's comments Wednesday that replacing federal money with state money is the wrong approach.

Gov. Bev Perdue's budget replaces that federal money and does more, using revenue from a proposed 3/4-cent sales tax increase to add $562 million to the K-12 budget. The added money would bring K-12 spending to about $8 billion.