The N.C. School Boards Association says mergers should be left to the locals.

Lobbyist Leanne Winner said that a budget provision that would fund only one school district in each of the state's 100 counties was a bad idea.

"We have been — and continue to be — adamantly opposed to it," she said. "We believe those 15 city systems still exist for a reason and that should be a local decision as to whether they continue to exist."

She said the reasons are different for each of the 15 city systems in 11 counties.

Winner argued that the state would not save any money for several years since administrators are signed to three- and four-year contracts.

She also argued the state would lose some federal money if high-poverty districts such as Lexington and Thomasville were merged with Davidson County schools.

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand has also sponsored a bill and attempted to add a similar provision to the budget in a previous year. 

UPDATE: The Senate Appropriations Committee removed the school system merger provision from the budget this afternoon.

Beverly Perdue got a laugh at the N.C. School Boards Association debate today. 

Just after she had given her opening statement, she was told by moderator Erica Taylor that she would have to adjust her microphone in order to be heard.

"Can you hear me now?" Perdue said, after a minute of futzing with the microphone. "That might be a good thing or a bad thing, we'll figure that out."

Then, she added, "Does that mean that I get to do my opening all over again?"

The audience laughed heartily, even though their response had been much more tepid when Bill Graham made the exact same joke in the Republican debate earlier.

"I'm getting a no from the powers-that-be," Taylor said, getting another laugh.

Perdue then asked that the laugh be counted for her side in the debate.

"That's a point for me for that," she said. 

Bill Graham wants to create a trust fund for the state lottery.

At a debate this morning before the N.C. School Boards Association's annual meeting, the Salisbury attorney said that he was not "a wild fan" of the lottery beforehand, but he still wants to use the money.

"We're the dog that caught the car on the lottery," he said.

Graham said he would create what he called "a Children's Education Trust" to disburse lottery proceeds in the future.

He said a portion of the revenue would go back to local school boards to spend "wherever you need to spend them."

Beverly Perdue said that every North Carolina high schooler should be able to go to college.

At a debate this morning, the lieutenant governor touted her "College Promise" plan, which she said would make college more affordable for high schoolers with good grades.

"The state should make an ironclad promise to all kids and their families, if they make good grades and work hard in their communities and stay in school and graduate high school, then tuition money is not going to be a roadblock to getting a college education," she said.

But state Treasurer Richard Moore questioned the plan, saying that he wasn't sure how Perdue proposed to pay for it.

"It's awfully easy on the campaign trail to make a fistful of promises," he said. "The hard part is finding the fistful of dollars to pay for them when the campaign is over with."

After the debate, Perdue spokesman David Kochman said the plan would allow middle-school students to sign a contract that would provide for grants for state college tuition, as long as they get good grades, do community service in high school and stay out of trouble.

"It's not a free ride," he said. "You have to earn it."

Richard Moore thinks public-private partnerships could build schools.

During a debate this morning, the state treasurer said he has a plan for partnerships that he said could save 20 percent of the building cost and speed up construction.

"We're going to have to make investments in North Carolina smarter and faster than we have ever made them before," he said. "To do that, y'all, we're going to have to think outside the box."

In her response, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue attacked the plan, saying it would lead to the state owning local schools without contributing financially.

"A big new state bureaucracy in Raleigh that owns school buildings in your district without putting a cent up — that's the way I read Richard's plan," she said. "That may be a fresh idea, but it sure is a bad idea."

Moore retorted that she was misunderstanding the proposal, but he said he did not have time in the 30-second rebuttal to get into the details.

"It's a great idea," he said. "I look forward to explaining it to you."

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."

The Republican gubernatorial candidates faced a rough crowd this morning.

At a meeting of the N.C. School Boards Association, the three candidates — Bill Graham, Bob Orr and Fred Smith — debated education before several hundred people in the ballroom.

They began with a two-minute introduction. But just as Graham was finishing his prepared remarks, a voice rang out from the crowd.

A woman said she wanted the three men introduced. She said she wasn't sure who was talking until she had asked a coworker sitting next to her.

"Can we have an introduction please?" she asked. 

Graham asked, tongue in cheek, if he would have to give his introductory speech all over again.

Tuesday's gubernatorial debate at the N.C. School Boards Association conference in Greensboro will include the two major Democratic candidates and the three Republicans.

The Republicans, Bill Graham, Bob Orr and Fred Smith, will debate from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The Democrats, Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue, will have at it from 11 a.m. to noon.

Each candidate will deliver an opening statement and then each face the same nine questions that will deal with K-12 education, said Leanne Winner, director of governmental relations for the association, reports Ben Niolet.

The candidates won't get the questions until debate time, and the Democrats and their staffs have been asked to stay out of the Republican session so the questions are still a surprise.

The association will also provide Perdue and Moore, who have a Council of State meeting Tuesday morning, with a phone hookup so they won't miss the state's business for a debate.

Bob Orr will also debate at the N.C. School Boards Association.

The former Supreme Court justice said today that he will also attend a debate sponsored by the asosciation on Tuesday, Nov. 6, in Greensboro.

"I look forward to not only discussing my plan for reforming our education system in North Carolina, but hearing what the other Gubernatorial candidates have to say on this issue," he said in a statement.

As previously noted, the two Democratic candidates, state Treasurer Richard Moore and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, will face off for the first time at the debate.

It will be held as part of the association's annual conference at the Koury Convention Center. More than 500 school board members and administrators are expected to attend.

The Democratic candidates for governor will debate education.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and state Treasurer Richard Moore have agreed to participate in a debate sponsored by the N.C. School Boards Association on Tuesday, Nov. 6, in Greensboro.

It will be the first scheduled debate between the two candidates.

The debate will be part of the school board association's annual conference at the Koury Convention Center. More than 500 school board members and administrators are expected to attend.