Recent bills filed in the Senate of note:

S.B. 235: Personal Protection in Restaurants, Sen. Andrew Brock

S.B. 236: Notarized Consent for Minor's Abortion, Sen. Brock

S.B. 237: Voting Materials in English, Sen. Brock

S.B. 259: Interscholastic Sports Open to All Students, Sen. Jim Jacumin

S.B. 262: Expunctions/Purge Online Databases, Sen. Phil Berger

U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes is worried that a California court ruling could spell trouble for home-schoolers around the country.

A California appellate court has ruled that parents who don't have teaching credentials can't home-school their children.

"This misguided ruling is not only a threat to home school families in California, but potentially to all home school families in the nation," Hayes, a Concord Republican, said in a statement.

"I support the efforts to ensure children's safety, but this broad ruling could undermine the rights of parents across the nation to educate their children in their home."

After trading barbs for weeks through surrogates, Beverly Perdue and Richard Moore faced off Tuesday in person. (N&O)

At a debate in Greensboro, the two Democratic gubernatorial candidates agreed that too many high school students are dropping out and the state needs to reach out to students from low-income families.

The two Democrats said they do not support raising the cap on charter schools or changing the mandatory attendance age. (W-SJ) (Graphic)

Moore attacked Perdue for raising tuition when she was a state senator. After the debate, Perdue said any realistic politician would have raised it in the late 1980s, but she now thinks it is too high.

"Our tuition rates were really low at that time," she said. (Char-O)

During an earlier debate among the three Republican candidates, state. Sen. Fred Smith caused murmurs with a remark about home-schooling. Afterward, he said that he accepted the crowd's reaction.

"My message stays the same," he said. "I'm not going to pander to any group."

About 500 people attended the debate. (AP)

In his closing statement, state Sen. Fred Smith provoked murmurs among the crowd at the N.C. School Boards Association meeting.

Outlining his five-point plan for improving education, Smith ended by saying that the state needs to do more for the thousands of children who are home-schooled.

"We need to work with the home-school community — 69,500 students are receiving home school instructions, and we need to let them participate in extracurricular activities," he said.

The crowd's negative reaction was strong, with loud murmurs continuing for nearly 10 seconds.

"That's a definite no-no," explained John Horton, chairman of the Hertford County school board. "To participate in extracurricular activities, you have to be a part of the system, and home schooled kids are not a part of the system."

State Sen. Fred Smith had his revenge on the N.C. Association of Educators.

At the Republican gubernatorial debate Saturday, Smith got in a dig at the teachers' association, which snubbed him earlier this year by endorsing Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

In response to a question about education, he noted the state's high dropout rate and said the state needs to focus on the needs of children.

"Our education system is not a job-development program for the NCEA," he said, misstating the group's acronym. "It's about educating children."

Smith said the state should expand vocational educational programs, improve community colleges, raise the cap on charter schools and support home schooling.