Employees with the state Department of Public Instruction have lived under a gift ban for more then 20 years.

Department employees, State Board of Education members, and members of its committees are not allowed to take meals, gifts, or trips from companies that would provide equipment, books, or services to the state education agency or local school boards.

The state board adopted the standards of conduct first in 1988 and modified it in 1998.

The policy says board members and those in its orbit cannot "solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, meals, travel, lodging, any other items of value, any favor or reward, or any promise of favor or reward from any person, group, association, organization or corporation" that has a contract for services or materials, would be expected to seek a contract or financial relationship with DPI or local school boards, or is subject to DPI regulation or control.

Employees and board members can take free trips and meals if they're connected to education meetings and seminars sponsored by public agencies and associations.

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.

Gov. Beverly Perdue will seek to get a state law changed so her choice for education czar can lead the State Board of Education.

State law allows only one "public school employee paid from State or local funds" to be on the state board at one time, Lynn Bonner reports.

The board has a member who meets that description, Melissa Bartlett, who works for the Iredell-Statesville district.

William Harrison, whom Perdue chose to fill a new job as chairman/CEO for state schools, could be considered a public school employee, too. Harrison was superintendent in Cumberland County, and the state is paying the district for his services. Perdue’s office has described Harrison as being 'on loan' from Cumberland.

Perdue spokesman Chrissy Pearson said this afternoon that a bill will be introduced to raise the board's school employee cap.

"We anticipate this will have support in both chambers," Pearson said. "We're looking forward to working with the General Assembly to move this forward."

Harrison is supposed to take over next month as CEO and school board chairman.

Gov. Beverly Perdue has named William Harrison, superintendent of the Cumberland County Schools, to oversee statewide public education.

Harrison, a former teacher, principal and school system administrator, will serve as both chief executive officer and chairman of the State Board of Education, Lynn Bonner reports.

"We need to have a clear line of accountability," Perdue said at a news conference this afternoon.

Harrison has been superintendent in Cumberland County, the fourth-largest school system in North Carolina, since 1997. He also served as superintendent in Hoke and Orange counties and an assistant superintendent in Brunswick County.

In appointing Harrison, Perdue said she wanted to change the way the state's education system operates.

Harrison, a native of Pennsylvania, has a bachelor's degree from Methodist College in Fayetteville, a master's degree from East Carolina University and an educational doctorate from Vanderbilt University.

Howard Lee will step down as state board chairman and will serve as executive director of the education cabinet, which coordinates public and higher education in North Carolina.

People do a lot of talking about how the state needs to get more students to graduate from high school. Legislators now want goals to back up the chatter.

Legislators are on the verge of recommending that the state Board of Education set a goal of having a 90 percent graduation rate by 2015. The Joint Legislative Commission on Dropout Prevention and High School Graduation put the recommendation in a draft report today, Lynn Bonner reports.

Only about 70 percent of the students who entered 9th grade five years ago graduated by 2008. Legislators called the 90 percent target an "aggressive" goal.

Legislators want each school district to have its own yearly goals beginning with the class of 2010.

"Everyone knows how serious this is," said state Rep. Earline Parmon, the commission's co-chairwoman. "We should be working together to achieve this goal."

We have a local entry for bookstores' political biographies section.

Howard Lee, chairman of the State Board of Education, has published his biography, "The Courage to Lead."

Lee was elected the first black mayor of Chapel Hill in 1969, and is a former state senator.

Lee said he worked on the self-published memoir for about five years, and trimmed his first draft of 800 pages to 240.

He has 15 book signings scheduled around the state.

Kathy A. Taft is running for state Senate.

A member of the N.C. State Board of Education, Taft announced today that she would run for the seat of retiring Sen. John Kerr, a Goldsboro Democrat.

"Senator Kerr is a great public servant, and has served the eastern part of our state for over 20 years," Taft said in a statement. "I have great admiration for John."

Taft, a Democrat, was appointed to the state board in 1995 by Gov. Jim Hunt and is now in her second term. She previously served on the Pitt County Board of Education.

Snow Hill Mayor Don Davis, a Democrat, is also running. Greenville attorney Marvin Blount III, also a Democrat, said he will decide on a run after the holidays.