Governor’s Office Withdraws Proposal to Move DNPE to DPI

Released: April 8, 2005

Dan Gerlach, Senior Advisor for Fiscal Affairs, Office of the Governor, invited several NC non-public school organization leaders to the Governor’s Office in Raleigh this week to discuss the previously proposed transfer of the NC Division of Non-Public Education from the NC Department of Administration to the NC Department of Public Instruction. The meeting was prompted by numerous concerns voiced by North Carolina’s non-public school community.

Those present at the April 6 meeting included: Dan Gerlach, the Governor’s Senior Advisor for Fiscal Affairs; NC Secretary of Administration Gwynn Swinson; NC Department of Administration General Counsel Brooks Skinner; NC Division of Non-Public Education Director Rod Helder; representatives from North Carolinians for Home Education; representatives from the North Carolina Christian School Association; and, representatives from the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools.

On Friday, April 8, 2005, the Office of the Governor released the following summation prepared later by the Governor’s Senior Advisor for Fiscal Affairs:

”First, many thanks to everyone for taking time from their busy schedules to travel to Raleigh to share their views on the Division of Nonpublic Education. It was a fruitful, constructive meeting from the Administration's perspective.

I explained that the proposal to transfer the Division of Nonpublic Education from the Department of Administration to the Department of Public Instruction was a budget-driven, not a policy-driven, proposal.

Early in the budget process, the Department of Administration made an expansion budget request - that is, a request for more money - for staff and related expenses for the Division of Nonpublic Education. The Division has three full-time people and the staff has not increased, despite new responsibilities (such as the driving eligibility certificate program introduced in 1998) and substantial growth in the number of North Carolinians choosing nonpublic alternatives to educate their children, notably home schooling. The number of home schools has increased from 8,171 in 1995-96 to 28,746 in 2003-04. The budget request was for roughly $150,000.

In recent years, the state budget has been tight and most agencies have had responsibilities increased with no new dollars. This is not a sustainable trend. Any new funding for some areas has come from cuts in other areas.

The Department of Administration has two main functions:  (a) To undertake the General Services functions of government - maintain state property, oversee state construction, take care of the motor vehicle pool, provide utilities, etc.; and, (b) Provide the home for a variety of functions that do not fit easily in other departments such as the Division of Nonpublic Education, Veterans Affairs, Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Indian Affairs, etc. Budget cuts have all come from the general services side, as policymakers do not want to cut funding for the divisions that serve constituencies that are growing. Frankly, the Department now has shortfalls in some of its general services areas and more cannot be reduced without jeopardizing core services.

For this reason, our thought was to move the Division of Nonpublic Education to DPI. DPI is a much larger agency, and we felt that it would be easier to find and re-deploy existing resources there to help administer the current law. The expansion in staff is NOT due to any desire on the part of anyone in the Administration nor DPI to change policy, but to deal with increased responsibilities and caseload described above.

Obviously, this decision to advance this proposal has caused substantial concern. I confess to insensitivity to this concern, and apologize for it. The decision was a budget one, not pushed by Secretary Swinson nor by DPI.

The Easley Administration will not push the proposal further to transfer the Division to DPI. At the request of several who attended the meeting, I have already personally communicated this to Senator David Hoyle, a key legislator on the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. Senator Hoyle agrees that the transfer should not be done. But, the status quo of three staff is not sustainable, nor can Secretary Swinson's department find the money elsewhere in her department.

We discussed several ways to improve efficiency - including use of web-based solutions, the use of the nonpublic school organizations to disseminate information, and so forth - and ways to increase resources - including examination of policies used in other states and the possibility of legislative support for additional appropriations. The nonpublic school organizations agreed to think about solutions to the current challenge. All the nonpublic school organizations agreed that the transfer to DPI was not appropriate.

There was discussion about ways to keep dialogue open and increase input from the nonpublic school community, and we welcome that dialogue. Many concerned citizens shared their views with the Governor's Office and the Department of Administration two weeks ago. We appreciate hearing from taxpayers about their concerns because this is America and people have a right to speak out on issues important to them.

There was also discussion about the good job that the Division does right now and that the current law is one of the better ones in the nation.

To summarize, the Governor's Office will inform legislators that the proposal to shift the Division to DPI is no longer part of our budget proposal and is not an appropriate solution; the nonpublic school organizations will offer input on how to ensure that the current law can be carried out effectively and efficiently; and, we will all keep lines of communication open.”