* Burlington Times-News reporter Barry Smith notes that Republican leaders want better testing, merit pay for teachers, more voc ed and an end to the charter school cap.

* WUNC radio reporter Laura Leslie writes about a proposal to give parents the choice of letting their children learn abstinence-only or comprehensive sex ed.

* Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Jordan Schrader notes a good line from schools Superintendent June Atkinson at the same press conference.

* Conservative Civitas think tank introduces a new legislative tracking feature— "Bad Bill of the Week" — and highlights Sen. Julia Boseman's private dick/peeping tom bill.

North Carolina has a citizen legislature, and Sen. Julia Boseman, a Wilmington Democrat, seems to be putting her personal experience to work with a bill banning private investigators from peeping into windows.

Boseman introduced a bill Wednesday that would make private investigators subject to the peeping tom law, which prohibits secretly looking into a room occupied by another person. The law currently allows exemptions for "private protective services."

Boseman has been embroiled in a contentious custody dispute with her ex-partner, Melissa Jarrell, over the custody of a son to whom Jarrell gave birth when the two were together.

During the course of the dispute, Jarrell hired a private investigator who recorded on video when Boseman hired a babysitter to watch the child, which violated the child custody agreement between the two women, according to WWAY TV, in Wilmington.

The investigator, Marc Benson, was later reprimanded by the state board that regulates private investigators for not having the proper license.

A few more Senate bills have been filed:

S.B. 8: Funds for CAP/MR-DD Slots, Sen. Julia Boseman

S.B. 9: Amend Peeping Tom Law, Boseman

S.B. 10: New Hanover Annexation Moratorium, Boseman

S.B. 11: District Attorney and Assistant District Attorney / Concealed Gun in Court House, Boseman

S.B. 12: Ban Mobile Phone Use While Driving, Sen. Charlie Dannelly

S.B. 13: Injury to Pregnant Woman / Penalty, Sen. Doug Berger

S.B. 14: Create Employment Safety and Security Commission, Berger