RALEIGH (AP) -- The North Carolina Senate and groups with a stake in reforming public education are combing through several changes to education laws pushed by Republican leaders.

The Senate's education committee expects to spend several hours Tuesday debating the package, which was changed late last week in response to meetings with teachers and other groups.

The new version adds nearly 2,300 slots to the North Carolina Pre-K program, which aims to prepare disadvantaged children for their academic careers.

Teachers would be allowed a tax deduction of up to $250 for the school supplies they buy out of their own pockets for their classrooms or needy students. Teachers would still lose job-protecting tenure status, but school superintendents would be able to offer contracts of up to five years instead of year-to-year contracts.

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