Cooper approves summer learning, literacy programs

(The Center Square) – North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed Friday a trio of education bills into law.

Cooper signed House Bill 82 and Senate Bill 387, which are aimed at enhancing learning opportunities for children in the state.

HB 82, dubbed the Summer Learning Choice for NC Families, creates a voluntary six-week, in-person summer school program for North Carolina K-12 students. Lawmakers hope it will help students who have fallen behind because of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This pandemic has challenged students and teachers like never before,” Cooper said. “Providing a summer opportunity for academic growth plus mental and physical health will help schools begin to address those challenges.”

The measure unanimously cleared both chambers of the General Assembly on April 1. It has received support from local superintendents and education advocacy groups.

SB 387 directs teachers to tailor reading plans for kindergarten through third-grade students who need additional assistance in literacy. Sponsors of the measure point to data that shows reading comprehension by third grade affects a child’s academic career and educational outcomes. The bill expands the state’s 2013 Read to Achieve initiative. Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, was the lead lawmaker behind the legislation.

“Early literacy is a major determining factor of a child’s future success, so we have to get this right,” Berger said after SB 387 passed the Senate unanimously. “After extensive learning loss for hundreds of thousands of children during the last year of school closures, it is critical we put our politics aside so we can finally enact improvements to early childhood literacy.”

Cooper also signed House Bill 53, which allows students with parents in the military to enroll in school while their parents are deployed and lifts certain requirements to allow them to keep need-based scholarships from the state. It cleared both chambers of the General Assembly last month.

“North Carolina is the most military-friendly state in the country, and this legislation helps children of servicemembers stay in schools here with continued in-state financial assistance even if their parents are moved out of state by military order,” Cooper said.

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