A bill directing the state Department of Public Instruction to come up with a plan for attaching "endorsements" to high school diplomas passed the House by a vote of 110-1 and is on its way to Gov. Pat McCrory.
The bill "tries to get the ball rolling on vocational education," said Rep. Bryan Holloway, a King Republican.
Legislators want high school diplomas to indicate whether students are prepared for work, college, or both after graduation.
Increasing vocational education was one of McCrory's campaign issues.
Rep. Paul Luebke, a Durham Democrat, objected to bringing the bill to a vote Wednesday evening, the same day it was debated in a House committee. But in the end, he sounded resigned.
"This is a feel-good bill," he said. "There's not much substance in it. There are still a lot of questions we could be debating on the floor."
Luebke voted for the bill. Rep. Carla Cunningham, a Democrat from Charlotte, voted against it.
