Hooray: Raleigh-to-English translation!

I found something on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools website that makes me want to cheer:  A  "2012 legislative update"  that summarizes all the public education bills the state legislature approved this year.

Keeping up with the action in Raleigh,  looking up legislation,  trying to decide whether I have the correct final version and deciphering the legalese has always been challenging for me,  and I have more training and experience in these things than most folks.  The new 10-page guide summarizes each bill in plain English,  with a link to the actual legislation.

I learned,  for instance,  that starting Dec. 1 it will be a crime for students to "cyberbully" teachers,  including creating fake websites and posting private information or altered images.  I got the clearest explanation I've seen of how the new third-grade literacy requirements will work.

In the "On the Horizon" look ahead to the 2013 session,  I found a good synopsis of likely developments on performance pay and teacher tenure.  And this explanation made me realize why so many of us founder in the maze of Raleigh lawmaking:  "During the short session this past summer, the Senate leadership supported a bill called the Excellent Public Schools Act (SB 795)  –  not to be confused with the Excellent Public Schools Act incorporated into the Budget Bill (HB 950).  While SB 795 did not pass,  it is almost guaranteed to resurface in the upcoming session,  which begins on January 30, 2013."

If these updates continue in real time next year,  they'll be a boon to all of us trying to understand and/or influence the state decisions that shape our schools.