North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-D30) has announced the members of the influential Senate Education Committee.
Co-Chairs this session are Sen. Deanna Ballard (R-D45), Sen. Rick Horner (R-D11), and Senate Majority Whip Jerry Tillman (R-D11).
Tillman and Ballard have also been named as Education/Higher Education Appropriations co-chairs.
Sen. Tillman has been a long-time leading Republican on education policy in the Senate and is entering his ninth term as a legislator. Prior to becoming a lawmaker, Tillman was a teacher.
Tillman was a leading voice in the fight to repeal Common Core in the state. After a commission tasked with reviewing the controversial standards failed its assigned task in 2015, Tillman said the legislature would take action. That action never came and Common Core remains as the state’s academic standards.
Ballard is working on her second term and serves as director of the office of the president/CEO for Samaritan’s Purse, an international Christian relief organization headquartered in Boone. She also works with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association based in Charlotte.
Berger also named Horner to the Appropriations/Base Budget, Health Care, Judiciary and Pensions, and Retirement and Aging committees.
The Senate Education Committee is made up of five Democrats and 10 Republicans overall. Two of the members are freshman senators, Sen. Todd Johnson (R-D35) and Sen. Sam Serch (D-D17).
K-12 education topics likely to be picked up by the committee include reducing testing, school safety, improving reading proficiency, various funding issues, and class sizes.
Other Members of the Senate Education Committee include:
Senate Democratic Whip Jay Chaudhuri (D-D5)
Sen. Don Davis (D-D5)
Sen. Chuck Edwards (R-D48)
Sen. Valerie Foushee (D-D23)
Sen. Kathy Harrington (R-D43)
Sen. Todd Johnson (R-D35)
Sen. Joyce Krawiec (R-D31)
Sen. Tom McInnis (R-D25)
Sen. Paul Newton (R-D36)
Sen. Gladys Robinson (D-D26)
Sen. Norman Sanderson (R-D2)
Sen. Sam Serch (D-D17)
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A.P. Dillon is a reporter at Battleground State News.
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Photo “Deanna Ballard” by Deanna Ballard.Â
