Proposal to elect State Board of Education members clears another hurdle

A bill that seeks to make the North Carolina State Board of Education an elected body — rather than appointed — passed through another state House of Representatives committee Tuesday.

House Bill 17, if adopted into law, would ultimately put the question before North Carolina voters in 2024: Would they like to amend the state’s Constitution to make the board elected and to make the state Superintendent the voting chairman of it?

The bill passed a House judiciary committee without debate.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, said Tuesday it would give the state’s superintendent greater and clearer authority over the state’s education system. Currently, the board is mostly appointed by the governor, and it sets policy based on directives from lawmakers and suggestions from the superintendent.

Members favoring the bill cast an elected board as more democratic than the current system, while those opposing it questioned whether it would expose the state’s education system to even greater political influence.

The bill now heads to the House Rules Committee, which must pass it before it can be moved on to the full House and then the same steps in the state Senate.

The bill would allow voters to decide whether to strip a governor, currently Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, of some of his powers.

The governor currently has the power to appoint 11 of the 14 board members, with the approval of the North Carolina General Assembly. A few of the current board members are appointees of former Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican.

Appointees serve eight-year terms. The elected state superintendent, state lieutenant governor and state treasurer also serve, though only the lieutenant governor and treasurer are voting members. The superintendent is the board’s secretary and chief administrative officer.

Lawmakers must approve of every governor appointment, and they have not always done so.

For the General Assembly to place a constitutional amendment before voters, at least 60% of the House and at least 60% of the Senate — among those present — would have to vote to do so.