The state Senate passed a bill that would allow school districts to turn low performing schools into what it terms “charter schools” that would still be run by the school system. But Senate Democrats couldn’t find enough sure votes at first to assure quick passage. There were apparently several head counts during a recess among Democrats until they thought they had enough votes. At one point Republicans thought they had enough votes to stop the bill. Three Democratic Senators announced pairs rather than register a vote, they were Don Davis, Steve Goss and John Snow. That was enough to get the bill through the Senate. The final vote to concur with the conferene report was 21 to 19. The GOP members would rather see two bills in the legislature approved that would raise the cap on real charter schools to 106. Democrats said Governor Beverly Perdue needed the low performing conversion bill to include in an application for the next round of the “Race to the Top” federal grants. The state lost in the first round.
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