 |
The North Carolina Republican-led House passed its 2025-27 budget plan on Thursday with strong bipartisan support, calling for an average 8.7% raise for teachers, with higher raises going toward beginning teachers.
Most other state employees would receive an across-the-board raise of 2.5% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26. In comparison, the Senate budget would give most state employees an across-the-board raise of 1.25% in FY 2025-26, along with a $3,000 raise over the biennium.
Under the Senate plan, teachers would receive an average 2.3% pay increase in FY 2025-26 and an average increase of 3.3% over the biennium, plus the same $3,000 bonus.
However, the House proposal would raise beginning teacher pay by much more than the Senate. Currently, starting teachers make $4,100 per month. By the end of the biennium, the House proposal would raise that to $5,000 per month — a nearly 22% raise.
“It’s a budget that we’re proud of,” House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said on Tuesday morning during a press conference. “It invests in working families in North Carolina, continues to deliver tax relief for North Carolinians while at the same time giving raises to teachers and state employees. It will actually result in us being number one in the south for starting teacher pay, which is something we’ve not accomplished in some time.”
Teachers with 25 years of experience or more would see smaller raises than beginning teachers, with a 3.3% increase over the biennium. The House proposal would also restore master’s pay, which includes a 10% monthly supplement.
Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
The House budget appropriates $32.6 billion in 2025-26 and $33.3 billion in 2026-27, with $18.9 billion and $19.2 billion going toward education each year — making up about 58% of each spending plan.
The budget’s net appropriation for K-12 education items is $12.4 billion the first year of the biennium and $12.7 billion in the second. For context, the budgeted net appropriation for K-12 education in 2015 was $8.5 billion. The House’s budget also includes approximately $4.8 billion to the UNC System and $1.7 billion to the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS) for both years of the biennium.
The House budget appropriates more to K-12 items than the Senate budget, largely due to the increase in beginning teacher pay. By the end of the biennium, House leaders said average starting teacher pay will rise to $56,593, including local supplements.
“The NC House budget delivers some of the largest teacher pay raises in state history — because we’re serious about investing in our classrooms, not just talking about it,” Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, wrote on social media.
The proposal would also provide one-time supplements to state retirees of 1% in FY 2025-26 and 2% in FY 2026-27.
Aside from pay raises, the House proposal would also extend science of reading initiatives to middle schools, require school boards to adopt a policy to restrict cellphone usage in the classroom, and grant more authority to the state’s Charter Schools Review Board.
In non-education-related items, the House proposal takes a more cautious approach than the Senate’s on future personal income tax reductions, while directing state agencies and departments to eliminate nearly 3,000 vacant positions, versus the Senate’s elimination of 850.
On Wednesday, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein released a statement in favor of the proposal, highlighting its bipartisan support.
“The House’s proposed budget isn’t perfect. But I am pleased that the House raises teacher pay to make North Carolina’s starting teacher salaries the second-highest in the Southeast and rewards our state employees with a raise. The House budget also makes important investments in public safety, child care, and workforce training,” Stein said. “…I look forward to working with the House and Senate to negotiate a budget that supports teachers, law enforcement, state employees, and critical services and infrastructure. That’s how we’ll build a North Carolina that is safer, stronger, and more prosperous with opportunity for every person.”
Now that both chambers have released their proposals, lawmakers must work together to try to pass a budget before the new fiscal year starts on July 1.
The proposal does not include new funding for Hurricane Helene recovery, but a new relief bill, also passed by the House on Thursday, does.
You can read more about the other education-related items in the budget below. You can also read the full money report here, and the bill text here.
K-12
More on educator pay
Under the proposal, teachers would receive an average 8.7% pay increase over the biennium, with much larger raises going to starting teachers.
Here’s a look at the proposed salary schedules:
You can compare these schedules with the current salaries, posted on DPI’s website.
The proposal allocates $955 million over the biennium to implement the new schedule for teachers and instructional support.
You can read more about salary supplements for various school employees on page 170 and 171 of the bill text.
Assistant principals are paid on the same salary schedule as teachers, plus 19%. An assistant principal is placed on the salary step “that reflects the total number of years of experience as a certified employee of the public schools,” the budget says.
Principals and non-certified personnel will also receive the 2.5% raise in FY 2025-26, “or an increase associated with additional adjustments provided to experience-based salary schedules.”
Here’s a look at the principal salary schedule:
Principals are also eligible for bonuses based on growth. You can read more about those bonuses starting on page 181 of the bill text.
Like the Senate’s proposal, the House budget would also increase state funds to the State Health Plan, which provides health care coverage to nearly 750,000 teachers, charter school employees, community college employees, other state employees, retirees, and dependents.
The plan is currently facing a large deficit, leading the State Health Plan’s Board of Trustees to consider raising premiums and changing benefits for plan members.
The budget would allocate $197 million over the biennium to the plan for district and DPI employees.
The House proposal would not include several increases funded in the Senate’s plan: for the state match for small county and low-wealth signing bonus program, the Teacher Supplement Assistance Allotment, or the Advanced Teaching Roles Program.
However, unlike the Senate plan, as mentioned above, the House budget would restore master’s pay and would also provide one-time supplements to retirees of 1% in FY 2025-26 and 2% in FY 2026-27.
Other investments related to teacher and educator pay include:
- $1 million for a teaching apprenticeship program in each year of the biennium. Per the budget, DPI and ApprenticeshipNC will collaborate to create “a competitive grant program for the purpose of increasing the number of professionally licensed teachers in the State and improving teacher competency, student outcomes, and teacher retention in the State.” Through the program, eligible districts will cover higher education costs for teacher apprentices and provide salary supplements and teachers who support them. You can read more on page 120 of the bill text.
- $1.8 million in additional funds for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) “to expand its content-specific professional development, including online, residential, school-based, and regional training.” The revised net appropriation for the center is $6.9 million per year.
Literacy, achievement, and student health and safety
The House budget invests in literacy initiatives for students beyond third grade.
To support literacy professional development, there is $10 million each year of the biennium for the professional development of middle school teachers and principals in the science of reading.
To expand the dynamic indicators of basic early literacy skills (DIBELS) reading diagnostic test to fourth and fifth grade students, the budget appropriates $3.7 million over the biennium. Finally, the budget also allocates $1.2 million to DPI to contract with JFL Enterprises, Inc. to provide a program for reading remediation for middle school students.
The budget also allocates funding for literacy and math professional development under the UNC System:
- $500,000 to the North Carolina Collaboratory to evaluate providers of literacy professional development for teachers in grades 9 to 12.
- $10 million over the biennium to the collaboratory to “develop a series of pilot initiatives to evaluate the effectiveness of various K-12 math programs.”
There is also $2 million to Union County Public Schools to continue its high-intensity tutoring program. High-intensity tutoring, also known as high-dosage tutoring, is an evidence-based intervention for learning loss.
There are also several items related to study health and safety:
- The budget reduces the money available for schools to offset copays for breakfast and lunch, but says students eligible for reduced price meals will still have their copays covered by state funds. The budget also prohibits the use of alternate school meals based on student pay status.
- The 2023 budget directed DPI to establish the CEP Meal Program Incentive for FY 2023-25 to expand public school participation in the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, meant to increase the number of students with access to healthy and free meals at schools. The budget clarifies that “in each year where funds are made available for the purpose, the CEP program shall be run subject to the provisions of this section.”
- $50 million in additional funds for the school safety grants program “to support students in crisis, school safety training, and the purchase of safety equipment.” These grants are managed by the Center for Safer Schools, which is now housed under the State Bureau of Investigation, instead of DPI.
- $2.5 million for a grant program to give reimbursements to eligible elementary schools that provide fresh fruit and vegetable snacks to students.
- The proposal would also make a pilot grant program for schools to purchase feminine hygiene products permanent “in each year in which funds are made available for the purpose.” DPI will contract with the Diaper Bank of North Carolina to buy the products, the budget says.
- $500,000 in year two for DPI to conduct a study “to identify advanced heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and chiller solutions for property owned by the Wake County Public Schools System and to generate findings and recommendations for interested stakeholders.”
Cellphones, AI, and more
The bill text of the budget also requires local school boards to adopt “a cell phone-free education policy to eliminate or severely restrict student access to cell phones during instructional time.” The budget provides exceptions in cases where a teacher authorizes usage for educational purposes and for students who have a cellphone provision in their Individual Education Plan, Section 504 plan, or a documented medical condition.
The Senate’s proposal also included a similar ban, but would require schools to restrict access to electronic devices, including laptops or tablets. The House proposal only pertains to cellphones. Both chambers have passed individual versions of the bill and will need to agree on a compromise to either pass either a bill or a compromise budget with the requirement.
You can read more about the policy starting on page 117 of the bill text.
Another technology-related allocation was made to ensure the safety of students on the internet. The budget provides $2.1 million in additional funds each year for DPI to contract with companies to “provide technology and services to mitigate cyberbullying, monitor student internet activity, and assist with suicide prevention services.” The revised net appropriation is now $6.5 million in each year of the biennium.
The budget also contains provisions related to artificial intelligence (AI).
First, there is $1 million for DPI to contract with Scholar Education Inc. to provide AI-powered learning and teaching resources. There is also $500,000 to the Southern Regional Education Board to study the impact of AI on K-12 education.
There is also funding to continue several grant programs:
- $4 million for schools to purchase a digital Career and Technical Education (CTE) learning platform.
- $2 million for schools to buy classroom agricultural technology for agricultural education.
- $2 million for schools to apply for funds to develop competitive after-school robotics programs with a robotics partner.
School funding
There is $35.4 million each year for an Average Daily Membership (ADM) adjustment, which “provides funding for an allotted ADM of 1,526,117 students in FY 2025-26.”
The budget also includes $20.6 million in each year for the Exceptional Children (EC) preschool and school-age allotments, as well as the Limited English Proficient (LEP) allotment, to reflect actual student headcount.
Finally, the budget also includes $10.6 million each year to “support an increase in the funding cap for the EC allotment from 13.0% to 13.25%. A school district will receive funds for each child identified with disabilities, up to 13.25% of the school district’s allotted ADM.”
According to legislative staff, per a WUNC report, that increase would likely fully cover five more school districts. However, in some school districts, as many as 22% of students need services.
Finally, the budget increases funding for the Uniform Education Reporting System (UERS), “which supports multiple software platforms provided to PSUs, including a student information system. The revised net appropriation for UERS is $26.5 million in FY 2025-26 and $24.2 million in FY 2026-27.”
There is also $15 million for school business system modernization to complete Enterprise Resource Planning transitions at public school units. Those transitions are meant to provide “integrated payroll and human resources information, an integrated State-level licensure system, and reporting of financial information for increased transparency and analytics.”
Reductions to K-12 items
The House proposal includes fewer reductions in education spending than the Senate proposal, but reductions are still made.
Here’s a look at some of those reductions:
- Eliminates $1.8 million in funding each year for small specialty high schools, an initiative that “previously supported a school-within-a-school model.”
- Eliminates $712,967 in funding each year for four vacant positions at DPI and requires DPI to “eliminate a sufficient number of vacant positions” to achieve $1.8 million in savings each year.
- Eliminates $2.2 million each year for DPI to contract with the NC Association of School Business Officers to provide technical assistance to PSUs with regard to maximizing the benefit of their fiscal resources.
- Eliminates $800,000 in funds each year for the Coding and Mobile Application grant program.
- Eliminates $1.8 million each year for DPI’s contract with Plasma Games, Inc., which provides science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused educational software in STEM and CTE classes.
Unlike the Senate budget, the House proposal did not include reductions for online digital literacy resources, Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) test fees, the Central Office allotment, or funds for TeachNC, an online platform used to recruit teacher candidates and teachers.
School choice and charters
Like the Senate budget, the House proposal does not allocate any additional funds to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program, but it does protect the funding allocated toward private school vouchers in previous sessions.
Though the budget had strong bipartisan support, some Democrats spoke out against the fact that the budget did not make reductions to Opportunity Scholarship funds.
“This is not the budget that House Democrats would have proposed, but it is the best proposal we will see this Session,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, II said in a Thursday statement explaining why he voted in favor of the proposal. “…I voted for the House Budget today understanding that there are a lot of policies I disagree with and hope to see removed during the conference period. The House is serious about governing this state and it is up to the Senate to come to the table in good faith.”
While the budget does not include additional funds for Opportunity Scholarships, it does include new provisions, like verifying residency requirements and clarifying application dates. You can read more starting on page 203 of the bill text.
Republicans have also recently expanded school choice through charter schools, which are public schools with more flexibility than traditional public schools.
In 2023, the Charter School Review Board (CSRB) was created 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.
Like the Senate, the House proposal would grant additional power to the CSRB, including:
- Requiring CSRB approval of all rules and policies related to charter schools, prior to State Board of Education approval.
- Shifting authority from the state superintendent to the CSRB for establishing standardized procedures around the transfer of local funds from districts to charters.
- Allowing the CSRB to require school improvement plans from low-performing or continually low-performing charter schools, and exempting other charter schools from state requirements regarding school improvement plans.
- Requiring the Office of the Charter School (OCS) director to report to the CSRB rather than the state superintendent.
Under the proposal, parameters for remote charter academies would also shift, with academies enrolling 250 students or more able to receive their own charter on an expedited timeline. Charter schools operating in person and remote academies would receive separate performance grades for each school model.
Finally, the budget would allow charters to “relocate the charter school within a 10-mile radius inside the same local school administrative unit identified in the charter.”
The Senate budget allocated $82,100 each year of the biennium to the CSRB for “meeting expenses, non-employee travel and subsistence reimbursement, and legal services.” That allocation is not included in the House budget.
Community colleges
The House budget allocates a total of just over $1.7 billion to the NCCCS in both years of the biennium. That number is up from $1.5 billion in the 2023 budget but is slightly lower than the $1.8 billion the Senate budget proposed.
It includes an across-the-board state employee salary increase of 2.5% in fiscal year 2025-26, which applies to most community college faculty and personnel. That would bring the minimum salary for nine-month, full-time community college faculty to $44,198, according to the budget, with higher salaries depending on qualification.
The House budget, as well as the Senate’s proposal, would also increase state contributions to the State Health Plan. Even with the expected contribution increase, the State Health Plan Board voted on Tuesday to adjust benefits and is expected to vote to increase premiums in August.
Enrollment and Propel NC
The enrollment growth adjustment, a fixture of the community college budget that allocates funding based on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students enrolled, is an appropriation of $75.8 million per year of the biennium — the same amount in the Senate budget.
During the State Board of Community Colleges’ May meeting, Alex Fagg, NCCCS vice president of governmental and external relations, said the proposals fully fund enrollment growth across the system.
The House budget does not allocate specific funding for Propel NC, the system’s new funding model first unveiled in January 2024.
The NCCCS had requested nearly $100 million for Propel NC, its main legislative request this session. The model would shift the current funding tiers to “workforce sectors,” with courses ranked and valued by statewide salary job demand data every three years.
Of the Propel NC request, the only item granted by the House budget is $6 million for an enrollment increase reserve, from which community colleges could draw funds if actual enrollment exceeds budgeted enrollment levels across the system as a whole. The Senate’s proposal did not include this item.
However, the budget’s bill text includes a section on Propel NC that, while not allocating money, gives the State Board of Community Colleges permission to revise its funding formula and allocate funds under that revised formula beginning in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
It says the board “may increase tuition rates to accommodate any revisions to the funding formula.”
“The House authorized us to make the shift for Propel NC for the funding model, but allows us, the State Board, to consider tuition increases to fund that,” Fagg said at the State Board of Community Colleges’ Friday meeting. “So a little bit different (than the Senate proposal), but the hierarchy of support for Propel NC is on the forefront.”
The Senate budget included $73 million over the biennium for “workforce sector tier reorganization.” The NCCCS said the anticipated cost was $68.5 million for the main component of the Propel NC model.
Read more about Propel NC
Featured in both the House and Senate budgets
Generally, it is a good sign a provision will make it into the final budget if it appears in both the House and Senate budget proposals.
A few items do, including supplemental funding that would expand training programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to 10 new community colleges. The revised net appropriation for the program in each year of the biennium is $7.8 million in both the House and Senate budgets.
The program, Access to Achievement, was launched in 2022 as a pilot with $500,000 allocated by the General Assembly. For the pilot, Catawba Valley and Brunswick community colleges were tasked with providing career pathway opportunities and resources for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
In 2023, lawmakers allocated nearly $4 million to offer the pilot at 15 community colleges. Funds were allocated to hire achievement counselors at the community colleges and for classroom materials and programming, a transportation study to determine barriers, and a two-year statewide marketing campaign.
Both the House and Senate proposals would expand the program to 25 community colleges in total.
Another provision, which takes its language from Senate Bill 133, would allocate $1.25 million in nonrecurring funds in the first year of the biennium to pay for all community colleges to transition to a single learning management system (LMS). Both the House and Senate budgets direct NCCCS to conduct a competitive solicitation to choose the single LMS. Currently, each community college can choose their own.
“The competitive solicitation shall be completed by December 31, 2025, and the transition to the new learning management system shall be completed by December 31, 2027,” the House bill text says.
And, like the Senate budget, the House budget instructs community colleges to evaluate technology costs — specifically, the costs of ownership and repair, and potential resale value, of hardware and software.
Other notable provisions
The House budget would make a one-time allocation of $4.5 million for the NCCCS “to contract with third-party entities or a workforce diploma program that will assist adults aged 21 and older to obtain a high school diploma and develop employability and career skills.”
It would also direct $3.25 million to develop an Education and Training Center at Randolph Community College.
A pilot program to evaluate the effectiveness of digital credential vaults for community college students at six community colleges would also receive a one-time allocation of $2 million. The six community colleges would be chosen by NCCCS.
And the budget would provide $500,000 to NCCCS to provide financial assistance of up to $750 for resident community college students who enroll in noncredit, short-term workforce training programs that lead to an industry credential in fields with employer demand and competitive wages. The eligible programs, according to the bill text, would be determined by the State Board of Community Colleges in collaboration with the Department of Commerce.
Reductions to the community colleges budget
There are fewer reductions to the community colleges budget in the House’s proposal than in the Senate’s.
Both proposals would both take $1.1 million per year from a fund that provided for a 10 to 15% salary adjustment to nursing faculty, due to the money not being used. The fund would end up having $6 million for each year of the biennium.
And $810,000 each year would be eliminated from a program “to increase the progression and completion rates of minority male students.” The program, the Minority Male Success Initiative, was renamed to the Student Success Initiative during the State Board of Community Colleges’ April meeting.
Notably, the House budget did not include the larger reductions the Senate budget proposed, which would total $57 million in cuts to the institutional and academic support allotment in the second year of the biennium.
“Obviously nobody likes reductions, so we’re trying to navigate that appropriately between the House and Senate, which can be difficult sometimes,” Fagg said. “…But community college support remains very, very high. I know we had a budget reduction in the second year of the Senate budget, but I believe we’re the only agency in the second year — a lot of agencies had it in the first year.”
Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
Early childhood
The House budget proposal shifts federal funds to the child care subsidy program, which helps low-income working families afford child care. It would provide an additional $60 million in the first year of the biennium and $80 million in the second year to increase funding that child care programs receive to participate in the program.
Subsidy rates are set through market rate studies conducted every two years by researchers at North Carolina State University. The proposal would move rates from the results of a 2021 study to those of the most recent study in 2023.
More on child care this session
That means some programs would get an increase in funding per child, while for some, the funding would not change. The rates depend on the child care program’s county, quality rating, the age of the child, and the type of the program.
According to the state Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), the current rates cover about half of the true cost of providing early care and education. Several advocacy groups are asking for $220 million each year in subsidy funding to update rates and establish a subsidy floor. The floor was not included in the House or Senate proposals.
A floor rate would help programs in counties with lower rates by providing them with the state average rate instead. Research has found the funding variation by county is wider than place-based cost differences, and that the study results do not accurately reflect the true cost of care.
The House proposal does direct the state to calculate regional and statewide rates.
Changing subsidy funding model
The House budget would take out quality rating as one of the factors that determines those rates. Programs receive a rating of one to five stars through the state’s QRIS (Quality Rating and Improvement System) based on factors like teachers’ education levels and program standards.
Right now, programs with higher quality ratings receive higher rates. Advocates are worried that programs will lack incentive to improve quality without increased funding attached to it. The Child Care Commission, under a 2023 state mandate, has been working to “modernize” the QRIS and passed new quality pathways in April.
The proposal would also allocate an additional $25 million in the second year of the biennium to reduce the amount parents participating in the subsidy program have to pay, from 10% to 7% of the parent’s income, “effective August 1, 2026, to comply with a change in federal regulations.”
Loosening of teacher, group size requirements
The House budget proposal would also change teacher requirements. It would make five years of experience teaching in a licensed child care program equivalent to the NC Early Childhood Credential required to be a lead teacher. There are currently multiple ways to earn the credential, including completing one community college course and holding a nationally recognized credential like the Child Development Associate (CDA).
It would also change the definition of a lead teacher, making that person responsible for two groups of children rather than one. That means child care programs would not have to hire as many lead teachers.
Notice: JavaScript is required for this content.
The plan would allow programs to hire teachers of children aged 2 and younger who have the lead teacher credential or meet other federal and state standards on health, safety, interactions between teachers and children, and age-appropriate daily routines.
The proposal would also increase the maximum number of children allowed in each classroom if programs maintain space and teacher-child ratio requirements.
For children 1 year old and younger, the proposal would increase the maximum group size from 10 to 15 children, with a ratio of one teacher to five children. For children 1 to 2 years old, the proposal would increase the maximum size from 12 to 18 children, with a ratio of one teacher to six children.
It would also direct the commissioner of the Department of Insurance to establish a working group to study potential solutions for high liability insurance costs for child care programs.
Child care academies to fill staffing shortages
The proposal would allocate a one-time $1.476 million to create a child care academy pilot — a model to draw new teachers to the field — in 12 counties. It directs the North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) and NCCCS to implement the program, which would provide free 2-to-3 week training courses for individuals interested in working in child care.
The proposal says the academies would be designed to give participants the knowledge and skills needed to earn the credential to be a lead teacher. It would also give teachers $500 stipends if they remain in the field as a lead teacher for a year, along with stipends upon graduating the academy, at the local administrator’s discretion.
The plan says NCPC and the system should pick 10 counties to participate, plus Johnston and Wayne counties.
The pilot is based on a model created by local employees of community colleges and local Smart Start partnerships, including in Johnston and Wayne counties.
The local Smart Start partnership would be required to contribute a 25% local match to draw down the state pilot funds.
Pilot to expand child care capacity
The proposal also allocates federal CCDF funds — $15.5 million in the first year and $5.8 million in the second — for quality and availability initiatives, including “an approved Early Education Information System project” and a pilot to expand child care capacity in three localities.
The budget allocates $3.5 million of those federal funds for each of the next two years to create a pilot to recruit new child care providers, give them coaching and support to open new programs, and provide other tools to meet child care needs like substitute teacher pools.
It would give the one-time funding to three local councils of government: one in the Coastal Plain Region, one in the Mountain Region, and one in the Piedmont Region. Each council would select an outside vendor with experience working with child care providers to run the pilot.
The vendor requirements include specifics on the company’s experience in other states, like managing substitute pools and establishing new family child care homes in six months or less. The proposal says the vendor also must provide a digital platform to help with administrative tasks, staffing, licensing, and communicating with children and families.
More on state child care efforts
The vendor would conduct a child care needs analysis for the community and then create strategies to meet local needs, including flexible or nontraditional hours of care depending on workforce and employer needs.
The pilot would coach new providers through a two-year mentorship program and provide a public dashboard to track progress on expanding child care access.
Mental health funds, family child care, and literacy programs
The proposal would establish a classification for family child care homes in the state building code. Providers advocated for this change to help alleviate some of the regulatory barriers they have faced in opening and operating their programs.
The budget would also allow family child care homes to operate without state licenses if they have certificates from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) or the United States Coast Guard, are only providing child care to children eligible for military child care, and meet certain state building safety provisions.
It also appropriates a one-time $7.5 million to NCPC to provide mental and behavioral health services to children, families, and staff in child care settings.
Finally, it directs $121,000 in additional allocations each year in nonrecurring funds to Reach out and Read, a nonprofit that works with clinicians to provide books and early literacy development to young children. The net appropriation would now be a little over $2 million each year.
The proposal does not include new state funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a program that sends books to children from birth through kindergarten. NCPC was asking for funding to expand the program. Instead, the proposal directs NCPC to use up to 1% of its state program evaluation funding and up to 1% of its statewide management funding to increase access.
