The General Assembly”s crossover deadline was May 8. After that day, most bills that haven’t been passed by at least one chamber — and therefore haven’t “crossed over” to the other — are no longer able to become law this session.
Bill filing deadlines and the crossover deadline are adopted at the beginning of each legislative session in an effort to pace the session and prevent it from dragging on late into the summer.
However, there are some exceptions to the crossover rule. Most notably, appropriations bills (such as the forthcoming House budget) can still be considered after the deadline. Other bills that could still be considered include those amending the North Carolina constitution, addressing election laws, or drawing district lines, among others.
Existing bills that have already made the deadline could also be amended to address new topics.
EdNC has collected information on notable education-related bills that made the deadline. See bills related to K-12 schools, early childhood, and community colleges below — as well as a full list of education-related bills that made crossover.
K-12
Teacher pay
There are a few House bills relating to teacher pay that made crossover because appropriations bills are exempt from the requirement to pass at least one chamber by the deadline. None of the bills below have passed the House yet, but they still could be taken up or included in the budget.
House Bill 192 provides funding for raises for teachers, school nurses, and school counselors ranging from 10% to 12%. It would also restore education-based supplements for teachers and instructional support personnel and calls for a study to explore the idea of paying teachers and administrators based on average daily membership rather than the current guaranteed positions model.
House Bill 523 would appropriate $500,000 to make school social workers eligible to receive master’s pay.
House Bill 846, “Teacher Retention and Recruitment,” would give some financial incentives to teachers, like University of North Carolina System and community college tuition waivers for children of veteran teachers and allowing reemployed retired teachers to receive bonuses.
Meanwhile, the Senate’s proposed budget would give teachers an average raise of 2.3% in fiscal year 2025-26 and an average raise of 3.3% over the biennium, as well as a $3,000 bonus, according to Senate leaders.
“Under this proposal, it’s estimated that average teacher pay will be at $62,407,” Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said at a press conference in April. “On average, teachers will receive an additional compensation, with the step increases and the pay raise and the bonus, of 8.9% over the biennium.”
The House’s budget is expected to be unveiled soon. Look out for EdNC’s coverage of potential adjustments to teacher pay in that bill.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
The three bills covered in EdNC’s last look at DEI bills — Senate Bill 227, Senate Bill 558, and House Bill 171 — have all made crossover.
SB 227, “Eliminating ‘DEI’ in Public Education,” would prevent public schools from engaging in “discriminatory practices” or teaching “divisive concepts” to students, which are enumerated in the bill text. SB 558 is similar but would apply to universities and community colleges.
HB 171 would ban DEI in state agencies, local governments, and any other non-state entity using state funds. On the House floor, debate over the bill lasted over two hours and was contentious at times.
“We’ve seen our institutions drift. We’ve watched government move away from excellence toward agenda hiring, favoring narratives over qualifications, checking boxes instead of resumes,” said House Majority Leader Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, a sponsor of the bill.
Democratic members pushed back, saying DEI programs are beneficial and asking whether programs that currently exist to aid marginalized groups would become illegal.
“I’ve listened to the debate today, and I’m relieved to hear that — based on this bill — that racism and sexism are eliminated. They don’t exist,” said Rep. Laura Budd, D-Mecklenburg. “But that’s not really true… Because they do exist, and other forms of discrimination still exist. It’s a laudable goal, it really is, to get to a point where we’re colorblind, and men and women are equal, people are equal. But we’re not there yet, and we’re at a point where this bill confuses progress with parity.”
Ultimately, the bill passed the House along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats voting against.
A ‘book ban’ challenging school libraries
There was a similarly contentious debate over House Bill 636, a bill that would establish 10-member advisory committees composed of parents and school staff for each public school unit. The committees would be tasked with reviewing library media after “objections” from “parents, teachers, and residents of the county in which the public school unit is located.”
In essence, the bill would allow anyone living in the same county as a school to challenge the inclusion of a book in the school’s library.
It also gives criteria for committees’ approval of library media. The bill text states: “Library media is not appropriate for the age, grade level, intellectual development, and ability level for any age or age group of children if it includes descriptions or visual depictions of sexual activity or is pervasively vulgar.”
“This is not a book ban,” said Rep. Brian Echevarria, R-Cabarrus. “The truth is, there will be a list of rejected library media that parents are welcome to go to the public library, not the school library, and check out for themselves — or to get on Amazon, or go to the local bookstore to make the purchase on their own.”
Democrats said the bill would effectively be a ban on books and questioned what types of content might be considered “pervasively vulgar.”
Rep. Phil Rubin, D-Wake, raised concerns about the constitutionality of the bill.
“Courts have consistently ruled that removing access to books based on disagreement with ideas or themes is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination under the First Amendment,” he said.
The bill passed in a party-line vote.
School choice and private school vouchers
None of the school choice bills EdNC previously reported on made crossover. They included a bill to permit homeschooled students statewide to participate in public school extracurricular activities, a bill making various changes affecting charter schools, and bills seeking to curtail Opportunity Scholarships.
Student health and well-being
The mental health of students has been a priority for legislators this session. House Bill 710, has proposed piloting a mental health crisis unit at eight schools starting in the 2025-26 school year and continuing for three years. House Bill 766 wants to train teens how to spot signs of mental health and substance abuse struggles in their peers.
Rep. Ray Pickett, R-Alleghany, introduced House Bill 578, which would require suicide prevention to be a part of a school’s mental health policy. He said that the bill “gives teachers an extra tool in their toolbox to help spot mental health issues in children.” House Bill 772 would also require public schools to share and display the suicide crisis lifeline and NC Peer Warmline number in multiple places.
Schools would be required to have a plan and training to respond to students having medical emergencies in House Bill 4 and House Bill 107.
Lawmakers are also looking to increase the presence of health care providers on school grounds. House Bill 433 looks to change the eligibility requirements for becoming a school nurse in an effort to reduce shortages.
Still, Rep. Julie von Haefen, D-Wake, said, “We cannot keep putting less qualified people into our school systems instead of actually investing and hiring more qualified nurses.”
Related, Senate Bill 77 would allow LEAs to contract with private nursing services for students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
The House also passed House Bill 328, which would ban vaping products, specifically Delta 8 and Delta 9, from school grounds.
School calendar flexibility
Senate Bill 754, a calendar flexibility bill introduced by Berger, passed the Senate, only drawing seven Democratic noes to 39 ayes.
Currently, the law says districts can start school no earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end the year no later than the Friday closest to June 11. SB 754 gives districts a second option of starting the Monday closest to Aug. 19 and ending no later than the Friday before Memorial Day. (The second option is permissible as long as there are equal amounts of days in the fall and spring semesters.)
It would also impose penalties for districts who violate the law.
Discussions on the bill have included input from tourism groups, mostly from the east, concerned about the summer season, as well as western advocates remembering the strain Hurricane Helene put on this school year’s calendar.
A similar bill from the House, House Bill 121, would remove statutory requirements for school opening and closing dates entirely. It would also allow districts that have been closed eight days per year during any four of the last 10 years due to severe weather conditions to use up to 15 days or 90 hours of remote instruction when needed.
HB 121 passed 111-2, with two Republicans voting no.
Restrictions on cellphones, social media
Senate Bill 55 and House Bill 87, having passed their respective chambers with broad support, made crossover. The bills, though different, would both restrict the use of cellphones in schools.
See EdNC’s previous reporting on the bills when they passed committee and after the bill filing deadline.
Proponents of the cellphone bills have cited mental health and social media as related concerns. Another bill to make crossover is House Bill 301, entitled “Social Media Protections for Minors Under 16.”
HB 301 targets social media platforms with “addictive features” such as infinite scrolling, auto-play video, or personal interactive metrics. It would require platforms to require age verification to ensure account holders are 16 years old or older.
The bill would also allow civil claims for awards of up to $10,000 on behalf of minor account holders if platforms are found to knowingly or recklessly violate the law.
It passed with bipartisan support, only drawing six noes from Democrats.
House Bill 959, “Social Media Literacy in Schools,” would require local education agencies to adopt an internet safety policy. It would also limit access to social media on school WiFi and require schools to provide instruction on social media and its effects on health.
Other notable bills that made crossover
House Bill 773, which passed with bipartisan support, would change metrics by which schools’ performance grades are determined. Before the vote, Rep. Julie von Haefen said “I think this is definitely a step in the right direction, but I think we still have a long way to go. I think we could still create a fuller picture of how schools support students… Although I will be voting yes, I hope that we can still work on this issue and create a better system in the future.”
House Bill 186 (=SB 312), “The Stars and Stripes Commitment Act,” passed the House with bipartisan support and would require the Pledge of Allegiance to be scheduled daily in classrooms within one hour of the beginning of the school’s instructional day.
The bill clarifies that no one can be compelled to stand, salute the flag, or recite the pledge.
Senate Bill 153, the “North Carolina Border Protection Act,” would, among other things, prohibit University of North Carolina System institutions from having “any policy or regulation that limits or restricts the enforcement of federal immigration laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law.”
House Bill 402 (=SB 290), the “NC REINS Act,” would limit North Carolina executive power by requiring regulations instituted by state agencies with an economic impact of over $1 million in a year be codified by the state legislature.
Related is Senate Bill 58 (=HB 72), which would prevent the North Carolina attorney general from participating in lawsuits that would invalidate federal executive orders.
Early Childhood
Changes to group size, teacher requirements
The House and Senate both passed bills in April aimed at easing staffing shortages and expanding access to child care. Some advocates, however, are concerned about their implications for quality and funding.
House Bill 412 and Senate Bill 528 would allow individuals with five years of licensed child care experience to hold the NC Early Childhood Credential, the requirement to be a lead teacher. There are multiple ways to earn the credential now, including completing one community college course and holding a nationally recognized credential like the the Child Development Associate (CDA).
Both bills would allow child care centers to serve more children in each classroom if they maintain requirements on space and teacher-to-child ratios.
For children 1 year old and younger, the bills 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 bills would increase the maximum size from 12 to 18 children, with a ratio of one teacher to six children.
House Bill 412 would allow lead teachers to be responsible for two groups of children instead of one and get rid of the required credential for lead teachers caring for children two years old and younger. They would instead have to meet certain federal caregiver requirements.
The bill would also divorce a program’s quality rating from the amount of funding it receives through the child care subsidy program, which helps low-income families afford care. Advocates are concerned this would lead to overall less funding for most child care programs and remove incentives to participate in the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS).
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.
Senate Bill 528 also directs the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) and the Child Care Commission to clarify state rules on multi-unit child care centers and establish a working group to streamline regulatory requirements for child care buildings.
Academies
The House also passed a bill based on a local “child care academy” model. House Bill 389 would create a two-year pilot in 12 counties to expand the early childhood workforce through academies that train individuals with no prior child care experience to work in the field.
The bill directs the North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) and the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS) to administer the pilot. Two of the selected counties must be Johnston and Wayne, two of the early adopters of the model.
The bill’s academies would be 2-to-3 week long free training sessions that provide participants with the necessary background checks, trainings, and knowledge to work as a lead child care teacher. The bill includes a $500 stipend for individuals who work in licensed child care for a year after graduation from an academy, and a $150 stipend upon graduation at the discretion of the local Smart Start partnership.
The House also passed House Bill 309, which establishes a classification for family child care homes in the state building code. Family child care providers advocated for this change after facing barriers in expanding enrollment.
Subsidy boosts, child care for teachers
There are also several bills that may still be considered because they have appropriations attached to them.
Senate Bill 412 would allocate $123.5 million each year to increase rates programs receive to participate in the child care subsidy program. The bill would provide an additional 10% of funding to programs in rural counties and programs serving infants and toddlers.
It would also create an $8 million pilot to increase child care capacity in western counties impacted by Hurricane Helene.
House Bill 800 would allocate a one-time $10 million for a two-year pilot to cover the cost of child care for child care teachers working at least 35 hours a week. The bill says DCDEE should choose counties from across the state to participate that have lost the highest percentage of child care capacity in the last decade.
The bill would require teachers receiving this benefit to complete the Introduction to Early Childhood community college course, if they have not already, as well as earning the Early Childhood Education Infant/Toddler Certificate or Child Development Certificate within 18 months. Those courses would be free for the teachers and paid for through the TEACH scholarship program.
The bill also directs DCDEE to study the effectiveness of NC Pre-K, the state’s public preschool program for at-risk 4-year-olds; Smart Start, a network of 75 local partnerships that serve young children and families with a variety of funding streams and programs; and the QRIS. The bill says the division should also consider other early childhood models “to determine whether those other models could better maximize funds available for child care needs in this State and maximize the number of children placed in licensed child care.”
It directs the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Insurance to make recommendations to the legislature on how to lower insurance costs for child care.
It says DCDEE should also identify a minimum subsidy rate in order to establish a subsidy floor. Advocates have been pushing for a subsidy floor in order to lessen the gaps in funding from county to county. A floor would mean that programs in counties receiving less than the state average rate would instead receive the state average. Programs that receive more than the average rate would not be affected.
Mental health funds, a child care pilot, and Dolly Parton’s literacy program
House Bill 542 would allocate $7.5 million each year to NCPC for mental and behavioral health services for children, educators, and families in child care settings.
House Bill 877 would allocate a one-time $5 million to create a public-private partnership to build a child care facility. The bill says the state would provide the land and “shell building” to a third-party private child care operator, chosen through an RFP process, to cut down on costs of building a new facility. It would cap parent tuition and would require the operator to pay at least $13 per hour to educators and provide health insurance.
Senate Bill 98 would allocate $1.5 million each year for NCPC to administer Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which provides free books to registered children from birth to kindergarten.
This year, the NCCCS’ primary legislative ask is to fund Propel NC, the system’s proposed funding model. The system is asking lawmakers for nearly $100 million to implement the model, which it says “prioritizes connecting students to high-demand, high-wage jobs.”
Ahead of the bill filing deadline, two bills concerning Propel NC were filed.
Neither Propel NC bill — House Bill 490, “Propel NC Funding and Tuition Surcharge,” or House Bill 365, “Workforce Education Act” — passed one of the chambers ahead of the deadline. However, because the bills allocate funding to implement the new model at the NCCCS, the bills can still be considered or end up in the budget.
HB 365, “Workforce Education Act,” was filed on March 11 with bipartisan support. The bill does not include the phrase “Propel NC,” but “would direct the State Board of Community Colleges to revise its funding model for community colleges and establish enrollment increase reserve.” The bill would fully fund the system’s request, with $94 million in recurring funds and $6 million nonrecurring to establish an enrollment growth reserve, which is part of the Propel NC request.
Under the bill, allocations for the revised funding formula would begin with the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Here’s a look at what the bill says about the formula revisions:
In addition to provisions regarding Propel NC, the bill would also expand funding for Cooperative Innovative High Schools and create grant programs for the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to promote Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs and community college enrollment to public school students.
HB 490 was filed with bipartisan support on March 24. The bill would “direct the State Board of Community Colleges to revise its funding model for community colleges to align with the Propel NC funding model.” It would also establish the enrollment increase reserve and allow colleges to establish a local tuition and fee surcharge.
HB 490 also says that allocations for the revised funding formula would begin with the 2025-26 fiscal year and would fully fund the system’s request for Propel NC. Unlike HB 365, this bill would require the system to submit a report to the General Assembly by April 1, 2027 on the revisions to its funding formula.
House Bill 574, “Workforce Development Pilot Project,” would establish a statewide workforce development pilot program. However, the initiative would not be managed by the NCCCS, but by the North Carolina Workforce Development Coalition (NCWDC) “for the purpose of providing grants to employers to encourage employer-sponsored training with a focus on increasing job creation, reducing employee turnover, improving employee wages, and upgrading the skills of workers in their occupation.”
The bill says NCWDC would identify and prioritize industries and skill sets “for which training and curricula are lacking at community colleges due to insufficient demand despite an ongoing societal or community need,” or “for which significant portions of training occur on-the-job without formalized study programs at institutions of higher education.”
HB 574 passed the House in April.
Dual enrollment, DEI, and more
Several bills concerning dual enrollment made crossover.
House Bill 378, “Leon’s Law (Dual Enrollment Info Parents),” would require community colleges to share education information and records with the parents of dually enrolled students. It passed the House on April 15.
The bill would require colleges to adopt a policy starting in the 2025-26 school year that automatically shares educational records of students below the age of 18 who are dependents. Parents can opt out of receiving the records under the bill.
“For the purposes of this section, ‘parent’ is defined as the parent, guardian, or an individual acting as a parent in the absence of a parent or guardian of a student,” the bill says.
Another bill, Senate Bill 223, “Expand Academic Trans. Pathways/Sophomore HS,” would expand academic transition pathways for sophomores. It passed the Senate on March 12. Currently, state law only requires community colleges to offer dual enrollment programs to juniors or seniors, although some colleges also offer courses to sophomores.
Finally, House Bill 414, “1-to-1 Credit for Career and College Promise,” would “give equal credit to community college and high school courses taken by Career and College Promise students.” It passed the House on May 6.
This long session, several bills that would prohibit DEI also made crossover, including the K-12 bill mentioned above.
Senate Bill 558, “Eliminating ‘DEI’ in Public Higher Ed,” was filed by Republicans on March 25 and passed the Senate on April 9. It must now be passed by the House. The bill says it is “an act to demonstrate the General Assembly’s intent that students, professors, administrators, and other employees of public institutions of higher education recognize the equality and rights of all persons and to prohibit public institutions of higher education from promoting certain concepts that are contrary to that intent.”
Among other things, the bill prohibits higher education institutions from “maintaining an office, division, or other unit… referred to as or named diversity, equity, and inclusion.” You can read more about the provisions of SB 558 here.
Here’s a look at other bills related to postsecondary education that passed the deadline:
- House Bill 562, “Com. Coll. Behav. Health Workforce Enhan. Act,” passed the House last week. The bill aims to address workplace shortages in the mental health and substance abuse spaces by amending the definitions of professionals. In addition to existing qualification options, the bill would allow community college graduates with relevant experience to be considered for needed positions.
- Senate Bill 133, “NCCCS Learning Management System,” would allow the NCCCS to solicit a Learning Management System (LMS) for all community colleges. Currently, community colleges across the system can each select their own LMS. The bill passed the Senate in March.
- Senate Bill 125, “Reorganization of Chapter 115D,” makes technical changes to the state constitution’s chapter concerning the NCCCS.
And here’s a look at bills concerning individual colleges:
- House Bill 23, “Allow Stanly Comm. Coll. Culinary off Campus,” would let the college to operate a culinary program off site.
- House Bill 346, “Central Carolina CC MCC FTE Calculation,” would direct the State Board of Community Colleges to include the college’s Harnett and Chatham health sciences locations “in the full-time equivalent calculation of the respective main campuses.”
- Senate Bill 108, “Johnston County/Johnston CC Construction,” and Senate Bill 174, “Rutherford Cty/Isothermal CC Construction,” would authorize Johnston and Rutherford counties to construct community college buildings on community college campuses located within that county.
All education-related bills that made crossover
Education-related bills excepted from the crossover deadline
These bills either contain appropriations within them or are referred to a finance or appropriations committee, and therefore could still become law.
The full list of bills that made crossover can be found here.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.ednc.org/which-education-bills-are-left-at-the-general-assembly/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.ednc.org”>EdNC</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://www.ednc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/cropped-logo-square-512-150×150.png” style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://www.ednc.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=253495″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://www.ednc.org/which-education-bills-are-left-at-the-general-assembly/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/ednc.org/p.js”></script>
