House Bill 1080 establishes the new district for schools that will be turned over to charter school management companies and overseen by a superintendent chosen by the state Board of Education. The five schools will be selected from a pool of struggling schools.
The law requires that charter operators who want to work in the district must show they know what they're doing and that they have a plan for “dramatically improving student achievement.” Legislators who supported the plan said North Carolina’s program would have more safeguards than neighboring Tennessee, where a similar district has not improved student performance after three years.
The bill passed both chambers on split votes.