The 2025-26 long session is underway, and as usual, lawmakers are likely to consider many education issues and policies.
The General Assembly meets for its “long” session beginning in January of each odd-numbered year, when it passes a budget for two fiscal years. Each year, more than 50% of the state”s budget allocations go toward funding for education in North Carolina.
In recent legislative sessions, lawmakers have passed several impactful policies for public schools — including the vast expansion of private school vouchers, added flexibility for charter schools, base pay raises for most school employees, and aid for schools in western North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helene.
This session, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and State Board of Education’s joint legislative request includes requests for higher teacher pay, additional aid for schools in western North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene, and for a moratorium on the expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program.
The joint legislative request also includes a number of items in four budgetary buckets: student and school support, academic support and coaching, technology, and compensation pathways.
“I’m a firm believer in this — ask not and receive not,” said Board member Wendell Hall, co-chair of the government and community affairs committee. “I have no problem in asking for the sun if I end up with the moon. That’s fine with me. But still, we need to ask on behalf of these children.”
The Office of State Budget and Management’s (OSBM) General Fund Revenue Forecast, released last week, anticipates a $34.71 billion budget in Fiscal Year 2024-25 and a $34.89 billion budget in FY 2025-26, representing 3% and .5% increases in collections, respectively. However, the forecast estimates a $34.07 billion budget in FY 2026-27, or a -2.4% shortfall.
During a year in which lawmakers are saying there may not be funding for raises due to remaining Hurricane Helene needs, such a forecast could further impact the number of education initiatives funded by the General Assembly this session.
“While today’s consensus revenue forecast for this year is positive, North Carolina is approaching a fiscal cliff that threatens our ability to invest in rebuilding western North Carolina, strong public schools, people’s health, infrastructure, and other services we need to make North Carolina safer and stronger,” Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said in a press release. “With a growing economy and population, it doesn’t have to be this way. I am committed to working with the legislature to develop solutions that allow us to continue to invest in our state’s future.”
In the subheadings below, you can find a brief recap of the major K-12 policy items from the 2024 short session, plus a look at what to expect this long session. Plus, here’s a link to the summaries for education-related laws passed in the short session.
School choice
The Republican-led General Assembly did not pass a 2024 full budget last short session. However, it did pass a “mini budget,” which included, among other things, an additional $463.5 million toward private school vouchers for this fiscal year.
The new money for vouchers — the largest share of the mini budget’s funding — effectively cleared the waitlist the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program, retroactive to the beginning of the 2024-25 school year. The bill also included $24.7 million in recurring funds to clear the Education Student Accounts (ESA+) waitlist for students with disabilities.
“Thousands of North Carolina families who applied and qualified for school choice programs have been in limbo because Gov. Cooper thinks school choice should be limited to a select few. …Republicans are proud to provide the funding so those students can attend the school that best fits their needs. School choice will always be an option in North Carolina and no obstruction from Democrats will change that.”
November press release from Senate Education Committee Chairs Sens. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, and Michael Lee, R-New Hanover.
After the General Assembly removed income eligibility requirements for the program in 2023, there were 70,000 new applications for the 2024-25 school year. After 15,805 new students were offered vouchers, nearly 55,000 students remained on the waitlist at the beginning of the school year.
Recent data from the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) — the state agency designated by law to administer K-12 scholarship programs — shows that the number of scholarships disbursed since the expansion has increased by 46,823.
There is not data yet on how many of these students were already in private school. If the waitlist exceeds the funding the General Assembly already allocated for the Opportunity Scholarship program, it is also not clear whether or not lawmakers will put additional funds toward the vouchers.
Regardless, it is likely the General Assembly continues to prioritize school choice this long session.
During the 2023 long session, Senate Bill 665 included language expanding Opportunity Scholarship eligibility to homeschool students. That provision did not make it into the final version of the budget, but it’s possible the Republican-led General Assembly revisits the idea this session.
Already, Republican lawmakers have introduced Senate Bill 48, “Access to Sports and Extracurriculars for All,” which would “permit students who attend a public school, private school, or home school without an interscholastic athletics program in a given sport or particular extracurricular activity to participate in that activity at a public high school.”
Homeschooled students are largely allowed to participate in interscholastic athletics throughout North Carolina, according to an EdNC analysis. Only two districts explicitly disallow extracurricular participation, and nine make no mention of extracurriculars but also don’t explicitly prohibit participation.
Republicans have also recently expanded school choice through charter schools, which are public schools with more flexibility than traditional public schools.
During the NC Coalition for Charter Schools’ 2025 advocacy summit — for which House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, was a speaker — the coalition said its main asks relate to funding, oversight, and flexibility for charter schools.
Some lawmakers spoke at the event about the need to look at and expand the role of the Charter School Review Board (CSRB), which was created in 2023 with the goal of expediting the charter school application process. Under that legislation, the CSRB has sole authority to review, approve, deny, and renew charter applications.
A regulatory bill passed last November removed power from Democratic Superintendent Mo Green to appeal final decisions by the CSRB related to grants, renewals, renovations, or amendments of charters. Now, only applicants or charter schools can appeal a final decision by the CSRB.
It is possible further regulatory changes to the CSRB are discussed this session.
Hurricane Helene
Much of this year’s long session is likely to focus on remaining needs in western North Carolina due to damage caused by Hurricane Helene last September, including at traditional public and charter schools.
Superintendent Green’s top priority, as presented to the State Board of Education earlier this month, is to help “students in Western North Carolina recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene, including providing an additional $100 million to address school facility needs in impacted districts.”
Green told the Board that DPI is hearing from impacted districts that the $50 million appropriated by the General Assembly last fall for damaged facilities will not cover remaining needs.
DPI and the State Board of Education are also asking lawmakers for an “ADM (average daily membership) hold harmless for Helene-impacted PSUs.” ADM is one of the main factors that determines state funding to school districts.
Here’s a look at other funds and policies passed by the General Assembly for schools impacted by Hurricane Helene:
- $16 million to DPI to replace lost compensation of school nutrition employees.
- School calendar flexibility and compensation for public school districts and employees impacted by Helene closures.
- $65 million to DPI, with $50 million toward repair and renovation of impacted facilities and $15 million toward replacement of technology, nutrition and equipment, and mental health services.
- $16.75 million to the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS) for emergency grants for students and expanded mental health services.
- $10 million toward disaster relief for child care centers and family child care homes.
- A testing admissions waiver for certain educator preparation programs (EPPs), for admission for the spring semester of the 2024-25 academic year only.
- The requirement that students who withdrew from a charter school due to the impacts of Helene are considered by the charter school “to have been continuously enrolled for the entire 2024-2025 school year for admission purposes.”
The $16.75 million for community colleges in the second relief bill also included $5 million toward spring 2025 tuition grants for eligible students at six community colleges that were designated “most or medium impacted” by the system: Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, Blue Ridge Community College, Haywood Community College, Mayland Community College, McDowell Technical Community College, and Western Piedmont Community College.
The NCCCS’ legislative request document asks that lawmakers “support community college recovery efforts as Hurricane Helene assessments continue.”
The third relief bill, which mostly included regulatory changes removing power from incoming Democratic officials, allocated $33.75 million to the Department of Health and Human Services to provide child care programs with stabilization grants for another three months beyond December, through March 2025.
A fourth relief bill was filed earlier this month and is currently making its way through the House. The 11-page bill does not directly deal with education, but could indirectly impact educators and school staff in western North Carolina.
Cellphones in schools
The use of cellphones in schools is already being addressed by lawmakers this session.
Last short session, Senate Bill 865, “Study Cell Phone Use in Schools”, was filed by Sens. Jay Chaudhuri, D-Wake, and Jim Burgin, R-Harnett.
The bill was not taken up by the General Assembly, but would have directed DPI to conduct a study on “various cell phone policies in public school units,” in partnership with several other state entities.
This year, the Burgin has already co-sponsored Senate Bill 55, “Student Use of Wireless Communication Devices,” which would “require regulation of student use of wireless communication devices during instructional time.” With a few exceptions, the bill would require school boards to create a policy “prohibiting students from using, displaying, or having a wireless communication device turned on during instructional time.”
Chaudhuri has also co-sponsored the bill, along with Democratic Sens. Gale Adcock, Mujtaba Mohammed, and Gladys Robinson, and nine Republicans.
“We have got to get back to where kids are educated, but they’re not over-stimulated,” Burgin said in an interview with EdNC. “We’ve got to have an adult conversation about phones and devices. Knowing what I know now, I would not give a device to a kid until they’re probably 14 years old. I just think it does that much damage to their brains.”
In the House, another bill with bipartisan support, House Bill 87, “Cell Phone-Free Education,” is also being considered.
That bill would require “governing bodies of public school units (to) adopt a cell phone-free education policy to eliminate or severely restrict student access to cell phones during instructional time.”
As such policies are being considered, lawmakers have also discussed wanting to introduce bills regarding the instruction and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools.
As part of their technology requests, DPI and the State Board are asking lawmakers for $152.6 million for a one-to-one device refresh, partially to ensure that students can participate in any instruction using AI or technology.
During the Board’s meeting, DPI said a recent survey showed that 100% of schools reported having a one-to-one computer ratio for their students. That number was 75% for charter and lab schools.
However, only 45% of schools said they have funds to refresh those devices.
“That $152 million ask is the amount that it would take — multiplied by four — to replace all the the devices in the state,” said DPI’s Geoff Coltrane, senior director of government affairs and strategy. “So the idea is that over a four year period, districts would be able to refresh their devices.”
Literacy and math
DPI and the State Board are also asking lawmakers for $44 million for a K-8 math screener to help with math instruction, and nearly $40 million to expand literacy professional development and support to middle school students.
In 2021, North Carolina lawmakers updated the Excellent Public Schools Act to emphasize the use of the science of reading to ensure students in elementary schools can read on grade level by grade three.
Since then, state lawmakers have allocated more than $114 million to train NC Pre-K instructors, elementary teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS).
Last short session, DPI asked lawmakers for funds to expand those efforts to older students.
“Data indicates support is necessary beyond grade three,” a 2024 DPI presentation said. “Not all students learn at the same pace/rate — (this) provides opportunity for educator professional knowledge aligned to science of reading, core instructional practices and continuous intervention supports.”
In addition to requests to expand literacy initiatives to older students, some advocates are also asking for more early literacy investments.
This year’s agenda from the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation names early literacy as its top request.
“A strong foundation in reading is vital to success, yet many of our children need to catch up,” the foundation’s website says. “The Foundation offers two powerful resources to help educate elected officials with data-based strategies to overcome this literacy gap.”
Those strategies include the NC Pathways to Grade-Level Reading initiative and a new data tool highlighting critical gaps in third-grade literacy rates, the Equity-Focused Early Literacy Dashboards.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed the executive order, “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing.” Among other things, the order directs all federal offices and departments to terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) “positions, committees, programs, services, activities, budgets, and expenditures.”
The order does not technically extend to states. However, the order does extend to grantees, which includes many North Carolinian organizations. Trump has also indicated he wants to reduce or remove federal funding for state education offices that continue DEI initiatives.
In April 2024, the UNC Board of Governor’s Committee on University Governance voted unanimously and without discussion to repeal and replace the UNC System’s current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy.
During the 2023 session, Republicans proposed similar legislation, though it didn’t include the phrase “DEI.”
House Bill 187, “Equality in Education,” is an act “to demonstrate the General Assembly’s intent that students, teachers, administrators, and other school employees recognize the equality and rights of all persons and to prohibit public school units from promoting certain concepts that are contrary to that intent.”
HB 187 was passed by the House and passed its first reading in the Senate.
Already this long session, North Carolina Republican lawmakers have indicated wanting to revisit DEI policies.
In a Jan. 24 press release, Speaker Hall announced the formation of an interim committee on government efficiency, meant “to examine state and local government operations for potential waste, duplication of services, mismanagement, and violations of constitutional liberties.”
Per the release, the committee is also authorized to look at DEI policies, excess state property, and “other potential wastes of taxpayer dollars.”
“North Carolinians deserve a state government that works for them,” said Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, one of the committee’s co-chairs. “Unfortunately, our government agencies and public universities have been bogged down by bad policies and programs, like DEI, limiting their ability to enact their core purpose: serving citizens.”
House Bill 56, “Publish Central Office Employment Information,” was also filed by Republicans earlier this month and would require “all local boards of education to publish compensation and position information for central office employees.”
Teacher and principal pay
DPI and the State Board’s legislative agenda does not include a specific request for teacher and staff raises, but does ask to “invest in raising teacher and educator pay so that North Carolina has the highest teacher salaries in the Southeast.”
According to DPI’s presentation, the highest average teaching salary in the Southeast is in Georgia, at $64,461. In comparison, the average salary in North Carolina is $56,559. The highest average starting pay in the Southeast is in Florida, at $47,178. In North Carolina, it is $40,136.
The Board and DPI are also asking for the restoration of master’s pay for all teachers, which is a 10% salary supplement.
The 2023-25 budget gave an average 7% raise to teachers over the biennium, with an average 4% raise in 2023-24 and an average 3% raise in 2024-25. That budget gave larger raises to beginning teachers, with raises decreasing with years of experience. Those base salary raises range from 3.6 to 10.8% over the biennium.
The 2023 budget did not include anything about reinstating master’s pay, though it was included in the House proposals in 2023 and 2024.
The House budget proposal in 2024 also included additional raises for school employees during FY 2024-25, but the Senate’s proposal did not.
Already, Republican lawmakers have said there may not be funding for new raises this year. At the same time, the State Health Plan’s Board of Trustees has indicated that increases in premiums are likely for all educators, with possible larger increases for veteran educators.
Such increases are part of the Board’s efforts to “avoid a looming fiscal crisis,” according to a Feb. 6 press release.
“Despite increased funding from the state, the Plan is facing a $507 million deficit, which is estimated to grow to $1.4 billion by 2027,” the press release said. “The Plan has been spending more than it has been bringing in, and it’s out of cash reserves to help bridge the financial gap.”
The State Health Plan has said it does not expect the General Assembly to help it make up the shortfall, and it is not formally requesting such funds.
The plan provides health care coverage to nearly 750,000 teachers, charter school employees, community college employees, other state employees, retirees, and dependents, according to the website.
DPI and the State Board are also asking lawmakers to reform the principal pay plan, as proposed by the North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals Association (NCPAPA).
In March 2024, two representatives from NCPAPA said the current plan is too tied to test scores. This discourages some principals from serving in low-performing or high-poverty schools, they said.
NCPAPA’s proposed plan would add a retention bonus and include factors such as how many multi-language and students experiencing homelessness a school has, in addition to school size and performance.
At the time, House Select Committee on Education Reform co-Chair Torbett said the fiscal department would work to provide a “rough estimate” on how much the principals’ proposal would cost to implement.
The committee’s final report, released March 25, 2024, said: “The Committee acknowledges that there are additional factors that could be included in a new principal pay plan that considers the complexity of a school and the longevity of a principal when determining salary. The committee recommends that the General Assembly continue working to ensure that all schools have effective principals and study the impact that a new salary schedule may have on principal recruitment and retention.”
School funding, partisan elections, calendar flexibility, and more
In April 2023 , Senate Republicans filed Senate Bill 670, which would abolish “all funds, grants, allotments, and other sources of funding that expend their funds from the State Public School Fund,” to enact a weighted student funding model.
That proposal did not make it into the 2023 budget. However, the bill text of the budget did direct DPI to study and create a weighted model for Exceptional Children (EC) students. The model should fund children “on the basis of the reported cost of services provided.” DPI was required to report back to lawmakers by Jan. 15, 2024 with such a model, along with a comparison to funds under the existing model.
This year’s legislative request from DPI and the State Board includes $229.8 million to implement the weighted model for EC students.
According to DPI, a weighted model would “generate varied funding based on the weights applied to the service level categories rather than a fixed level per student.” It would also “generate funding and a distribution of that funding to more closely align with the students and their service delivery needs.”
“This is a really positive step for our children that so much deserve our attention,” Board vice-chair Alan Duncan said about the model in March 2024.
Implementing a new weighted model — for all students or only for students with disabilities — would require significant new funding. However, as the General Assembly continues discussions around expanding school choice, it is possible that lawmakers bring up weighted student funding, which many school choice advocates say funds individual students, rather than school “systems.”
Here are other items that might come up this session.
Partisan elections
In recent years, lawmakers have moved to make local boards of elections races partisan races. Last November, 52 school districts in North Carolina held partisan elections, where candidates’ party affiliations are listed on the ballot, versus 41 in 2022.
Prior to 2013, there were only 10 partisan districts in North Carolina. Already this session, more bills to make partisan boards have been filed. On Monday, Republicans also filed House Bill 144, which would make the members of the State Board of Education elected positions. Currently, Board members are appointed by elected officials. Republicans filed a similar bill in 2023, but it did not pass the House.
School calendar flexibility
According to North Carolina law, traditional public schools are not allowed to start the school year sooner than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end later than the Friday closest to June 11. School and district leaders have long asked for more calendar flexibility, claiming the required window limits a district’s ability to meet the needs of its community, and a growing number have opted to start school early without permission.
The General Assembly has regulated school calendars for 20 years, largely due to the tourism industry’s concerns that starting earlier would hurt businesses.
High-dosage tutoring
During the start of the pandemic, Ed Corps was launched to offer high-dosage tutoring, an evidence-based intervention for learning loss that is aligned with state-level standards for literacy. Since 2021-22, Ed Corps has placed and supported nearly 1,300 corps members who have tutored more than 22,000 K-5 graders across 32 counties.
This was supported through a mix of Covid-relief and private funds. Ed Corps, along with DPI and the State Board, is asking for more funds for high-dosage tutoring.
School nutrition
For two school years during the pandemic, all students, regardless of income, could eat school meals for free. Since the waivers providing free meals ended, meal debt across the country has grown.
Many education advocates have called on lawmakers to provide for the continuation of free school lunches in the budget. While the 2023 budget did permanently eliminate the reduced-price lunch copay in North Carolina, DPI and the State Board are still asking lawmakers to fund free school meals for students.
School construction
According to DPI, there are nearly $13 billion in school construction needs across the state. DPI and the State Board are asking lawmakers to consider making a dent in those needs through capital funding this session.
Low-performing schools
DPI and the State Board are also asking for $4.5 million to continue funding efforts to transform schools designated as low performing. They are again asking for that funding this long session to continue the CARES model, launched in 2021 as the “the highest level of intervention within the Department of Public Instruction” for low-performing schools.
School district size
Finally, House Bill 82, filed last week, would create a commission to study “whether the local school administrative units with the five largest student populations in the State experience any negative outcomes due to the large student populations and to suggest remedies to any negative outcomes caused by the size of the student populations.”
Those districts include Wake, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, Winston-Salem/Forsyth, and Cumberland county schools.
The bill was filed by by Reps. Donny Lambeth and Jeff Zenger, Republicans from Forsyth County. To move forward, the bill must be taken up by the House rules committee.
Meet the reporters
Two of EdNC’s reporters, Chantal Brown and Ben Humphries, will cover the bulk of legislative updates this year. You can reach them at cbrown@ednc.org and bhumphries@ednc.org, respectively.
This session, EdNC’s Liz Bell will continue to lead our coverage of early childhood policies and bills at the General Assembly.
Hannah Vinueza McClellan will continue to cover the General Assembly intermittently, and edit content, along with Director of Content Anna Pogarcic.
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