State Board of Education members spent considerable time Tuesday talking about something many want but they aren't going to get. Not in the foreseeable future, anyway.

The state's public education leaders want kids at school for more than 180 days, and they talked a lot about how China and India have longer school years, Lynn Bonner reports.

"We better pay attention to what's going on in other parts of the world," said board member John A. Tate III.

Board chairman Bill Harrison acknowledged that having students spend more time at school is not something that's going to happen soon, considering the state's financial straits.

In fact, Wilkes County schools got permission from legislators to cut this school year to 162 days and make each day 45 minutes longer so it could save money.

Nonetheless, the state should talk about ways to have students spend more time at school, Harrison said. Perhaps a small test program could be proposed as part of the state's application for a federal education grant, he said.

"When we look at disadvantaged students, they're really doing nothing productive when they're away from school," Harrison said. "The most productive thing they're doing is sitting and watching TV."

While most in the room endorsed more time at school, state superintendent June Atkinson said some students may be better off spending less time there.

"Some kids don't need to come to school everyday," she said.

Atkinson wants the state to move toward "personalized education plans," which she said would involve, for example, chances for high school students to take classes, work at internships, and work on projects with mentors.

"We've squeezed all the drops of educational juice out of the traditional schedule in public schools," she said. "Traditional schedules don't work for all students."

The State Board of Education, during its two-day retreat at Raleigh's Sheraton Hotel, set out six goals for students and teachers.

The goals are written in ed-wonk language, but Dome has tried its best to write them in English, Lynn Bonner reports. Essentially, the board wants:

* Every student prepared for global competition.

* Student progress measured in a way that alerts teachers to problems so they can adjust the way they teach.

* Every "learning environment" (Dome thinks this means "schools" and classrooms") to be "inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive and flexible."

* School leaders that create a culture that embraces change and continuous improvement.

* Financial planning and budgeting aligned with maximizing student achievement.

More after the jump.

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The State Board of Education decided to start an ad hoc committee on charter schools that will look at the criteria used to approve new schools and how to close those that aren't working.

A lot of the older charter schools are struggling, said state board chairman Bill Harrison, while applicants for new charters have better proposals, Lynn Bonner reports.

"We need to determine what to do with charter schools not performing, specific consequences and procedures," he said.

The board wants to revive the notion of charters as incubators for new ideas, and address the issue of de facto segregation of charter schools.

Racially diverse districts, including Wake County, have charters that are nearly all white or all minority.

"How can we ensure a more diverse student population?" Harrison asked.

North Carolina is keen on getting a piece of the $4 billion the federal government will give states that show that they are interested in school innovations that improve education.

The grant, a program called "Race to the Top" represents "an incredible opportunity, especially in these economic times," Bill Harrison, chairman of the State Board of Education, said Monday.

About 150 people, including state Department of Public Instruction staff, academics from the universities, representatives from Gov. Beverly Perdue's office, foundations, nonprofits, professional organizations, and local school districts have done some work getting the state ready to apply for the money, Lynn Bonner reports.

With all the interest, the state board will consider changing a policy on teacher evaluations that could kick North Carolina out of the running.

The state board will talk today about altering or rescinding a policy prohibiting local school districts from using a measure of teacher effectiveness in their evaluations.
According to the grant eligibility requirements, states cannot prohibit linking information on student achievement or student growth to teacher or principals' evaluations.

Another state law, the one capping public charters at 100 schools, could hurt the state's chances.

Federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan has repeatedly said that states with limits on charter schools will be at a "competitive disadvantage" when it comes to getting money.

House and Senate Republicans made raising the charter cap a priority in this year's legislative session. A bill to raise the cap stalled in the Senate.

More after the jump.

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* A black or Native American child visiting the state Capitol on a school field trip can wander among the statues, monuments and plaques without seeing an image of someone of the same skin color.

Eddie Davis, a former teacher and former head of the state's largest teachers union, calls it "segregated history in the 21st century." He is proposing that the state Capitol in downtown Raleigh, built with the help of slave labor, reflect and represent all of its people, including those who aren't white, about a quarter to one-third of the population.

He asked members of the state Historical Commission last week to add a "Hall of Inclusion" on the second floor of the Capitol, with plaques recognizing historical contributions by racial and ethnic minorities. (N&O)

* Jam-packed Wake County classrooms with up to 40 or more students have sparked a blame game between leaders of North Carolina's largest school district and state officials and educators.

* As a result of tough-on-crime sentencing laws approved by legislators 15 years ago, North Carolina's inmate population is booming and will soon outpace the number of prison beds.

Despite this, the state budget signed by Perdue this month orders seven small prisons closed, eliminates 972 corrections jobs and cuts programs aimed at keeping juvenile offenders from becoming hardened criminals.

Administrators say the state Department of Correction can safely absorb the cuts in the short-term by increasing the number of inmates at other facilities. But judges, legislators and others with a stake in the criminal justice system worry that the growth, if unchecked, will soon result in prisons so crowded as to be unsafe for inmates and staff. (N&O)

While the House was still  looking at cutting the schools budget by more than 11 percent, public schools CEO Bill Harrison asked members raise taxes to raise more money.

He thanked the House on Thursday night for actions that would save jobs and prevent class-size increases in the lower grades, Lynn Bonner reports.

After the jump, the statement. 

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* U.S. Rep. Howard Coble received an award from the American Conservative Union; his lifetime rating is 89.21 over 24 years.

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen thinks state Sens. John Snow or Joe Sam Queen would make good candidates for Rep. Heath Shuler's seat.

* Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker says Gov. Beverly Perdue quashed a rumor that she would submit a do-over on the budget.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts gives state schools CEO Bill Harrison props for speaking out for a tax hike for education.

The state will intervene with Halifax County Schools.

Gov. Beverly Perdue announced today that the State Board of Education Chair and CEO Bill Harrison, schools Superintendent June Atkinson and the N.C. Department of Public Instruction will make an unusual intervention to help the low-performing district.

"Dr. Harrison, Superintendent Atkinson and I will act aggressively in Halifax County and all of North Carolina to make sure our schools have the support, direction and accountability that give our kids a chance to succeed," Perdue said in a statement.

Under the plan, Public Instruction staffers will coach school principals, spend weeks training teachers, oversee the hiring of new educators and provide help seeking state and federal funding.

Approximately one third of high school students in Halifax County are considered proficient on end-of-year tests, compared to 68 percent for the state average.

The plan will be presented to Judge Howard Manning on April 29.

Months before the state Senate proposed reshaping More at Four and Smart Start through budget cuts, the big buzz concerning the early childhood programs was about merging the two agencies.

The Senate lightning bolt hasn't killed the merger idea in the House, Lynn Bonner reports.

One of its architects, Rep. Ray Rapp, is holding a news conference Wednesday featuring Dr. Olson Huff, a pediatrician and big Smart Start champion.

Rapp, the primary sponsor of House Bill 539, proposes moving More at Four from the state Department of Public Instruction to the state Department of Health and Human Services. DHHS would work to merge More at Four with the N.C. Partnership for Children, which oversees Smart Start.

At least one local partnership director thinks it's a good move, but others agree with state education CEO Bill Harrison, that the state should study a merger first.