The House Education Appropriations Committee met this morning (5/15/25) to consider the two-year education budget that the committee’s chairs compiled for consideration for rolling into their chamber’s full state budget proposal that is expected to be released and to face action next week. Later in the day, the committee reconvened to debate eight mostly technical amendments presented by several members as well.
 
Rep. Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke), who is a full House Appropriations Chair, told the committee that proposed salary increases are not in the education budget for K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities, but those will be announced next week with the House leadership’s rollout of their chamber’s proposed full spending plan for 2025-2027. Votes on that proposal are expected in the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, with debate and votes on the House floor on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
 
The House education budget, as amended, would provide $14,516,942,916 for public schools in 2025-26, and $2,730,332,011 of that would come from receipts including those from the Education Lottery.
 
House Education Budget Documents

• House Education Budget Special Provisions (Bill Text)
• House Education Budget Committee “Money” Report

 
Committee “Money” Report Changes To Public School Funding
See the chart here, which was compiled by the Department of Public Instruction to summarize earlier state budget proposals for K-12 education and was then updated by NCASA 5/15/25 to add the House Education Appropriations Committee’s proposed line-item changes for public schools.
 
Public School Special Provisions In Bill Text

• Section 7.2, Clarify Learning.com Funding – Does as title indicates by prohibiting the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) from taking action to impede public school units from accessing Learning.com.
   
• Section 7.3, Repeal Plasma Games – Does as title indicates to eliminate funding for this program.
   
• Section 7.5, Beginnings For Parents Of Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing – Requires this organization to submit reports to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee and the Department of Public Instruction by Dec. 31, 2025, and June 30, 2026, regarding their use of state funding from the prior fiscal year.
   
• Section 7.6, Repeal Schools That Lead Program – Does as title indicates to eliminate funding for this program.
   
• Section 7.8, Streamline Limited English Proficient Allotment – Revises the allotment to provide funds to LEP students in public school units based on a three-year average of their enrollment.
   
• Section 7.9, Repeal Textbook Commission – Does as title indicates and rewrites Part 3 of Article 8 of Chapter 115C to replace “textbook” throughout with “instructional materials” and to add new 115C-98.5. requiring local boards of education to create a community media advisory committee to investigate and evaluate challenges to supplementary and instructional materials and delineating that process.
   
• Section 7.10, Stabilization Of Low-Wealth Allotment – Requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to develop a new Low-Wealth Supplemental Funding formula that provides more predictable yearly allocations to eligible school districts and allocating no more than provided in 2025-26, with the proposal to be submitted to the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division by Feb. 15, 2026.
   
• Section 7.11, Technical Adjustment To Administrative Licensure Requirements – Clarifies that the portfolio requirement for an administrator license is limited to those seeking licensure as a principal.
   
• Section 7.12, Various Education Report Changes – Makes changes to due dates of various reports required of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction or the State Board of Education, and changes names and/or components required for some reports.
   
• Section 7.13, Elementary And Middle School Literacy Improvement – Provides $1,390,800 recurring both years and $966,508 non-recurring in 2025-26  to expand the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS) reading diagnostic to 4th and 5th grade; also extends to these grades the Individual Reading Plans and requires notification of parents or guardians of students in those grades who are not reading on grade level. Also requires DPI to contract with Lexia Learning Systems, LLC, to provide Lexia Aspire Professional Learning to all English Language Arts, math, science, social studies, teachers of students who are English language learners, and Exceptional Children teachers who teach students in grades six through eight and principals of schools who enroll students in grades six through eight. Requires DPI to develop a procedure for providing training to half of the teachers referenced in this subsection and all principals referenced in this subsection during the 2025-2026 school year with the remaining teachers and all new teachers teaching the subjects referenced in this subsection receiving training during the 2026-2027 school year; and to develop a procedure for prioritizing participation by referenced teachers, who must be provided stipends for completing the training. Requires the State Board of Education to develop literacy standards for grades six through eight to align with the professional learning delineated here.
   
• Section 7.14, Fiscal Responsibility And K-12 Tech Planning – Requires all public school units (PSUs) to evaluate long-term costs when buying new technology and to report on the break/fix rate of school technology devices.
   
• Section 7.23, Repeal Coding And Mobile App Development Grant Program – Does as title indicates to eliminate funding for this program.
   
• Section, 7.24, Maintain Coverage Of Copays For Reduced-Price School Meals – Maintains coverage of copays for reduced-priced school meals under the federal National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs and directs DPI to use funds appropriated to the State Aid for Public Schools Fund to cover any shortfall in federal funding for this initiative.
   
• Section 7.25, Charter Schools Review Board  Amendments – Grants additional power to the Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB), including requiring CSRB approval of all rules and policies related to charter schools prior to SBE approval; shifts authority from the state superintendent to the CSRB for establishing standardized procedures around the transfer of local funds from districts to charters; allows 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; requires the Office of the Charter School (OCS) director to report to the CSRB rather than the state superintendent. 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.
   
• Section 7.28, Formalize The Diaper Bank Of North Carolina's Role As Provider Of Feminine Hygiene Products For Public Schools – Replaces the previous grant program for this purpose with a directive for DPI to contract with the Diaper Bank of North Carolina to provide feminine hygiene products to all public school units that elect to participate in the program based on their number of female students in grades six through 12.
   
• Section 7.31, No Alternate Meals Based On Student Pay Status – Prohibits providing alternate school meals to students receiving free or reduced-price lunch or students that have unpaid meal debt.
   
• Section 7.32, CEP Timeline Shift and Breakfast Location – Provides that the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program that provides students with a healthy, cost-free breakfast and lunch can operate where funds are available each year and requires participating schools to make breakfast consumption available in the classroom.
   
• Section 7.35, Public School Enrollment Stability For Military Students – Permits a student who is not a domiciliary of a local school administrative (LEA) unit but resides with a parent or legal guardian that is on active military duty to register to enroll remotely, under certain conditions, in that LEA’s schools prior to commencement of the student's residency.
   
• Section 7.36, Extended Learning And Integrated Supports Competitive Grant Program – Establishes the program “to fund high-quality, independently validated extended learning and integrated student support service programs for at-risk student that raise standards for student academic outcomes.” Directs DPI to use up to $7 million from the At-Risk Student Services Alternative School Allotment each year to fund the program.
   
• Section 7.37 Teacher Apprenticeship Program – Establishes a Teacher Apprenticeship Program as a competitive grant program to increase the number of professionally licensed teachers in the state; requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to administer the program in collaboration with ApprenticeshipNC at the Community College System; directs the first RFP to be issued by Nov. 1, 2025, with applications to established apprenticeship programs beginning in the 2026-27 school year; and repeals GS 115C-269.32, the Teacher Apprentice Grant Program. The revised program would allow districts participating in the Advanced Teaching Roles program to employ apprentices under the supervision of a mentor teacher.
   
• Section To Be Determined (TBD), Charter School Relocation – Permits charter schools to relocate within a 10-mile radius inside the same local school administrative unit identified in the charter without being considered a material revision of a charter and prior approval of the Charter School Review Board.
   
• Section TBD, Student Use Of Wireless Devices – Requires local governing boards to establish a cell-phone-free policy to eliminate or severely restrict student access to cell phones during instructional time, with exceptions for teacher-approved use during instruction, compliance with IEP requirements, or managing student health care.
   
• Section TBD, CTE Modernization – Directs DPI to use up to $2 million nonrecurring each year for a grant program for modernization of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programming, materials, training, and professional development for courses conducted in grades six through 12.
   
• Section TBD, K-5 Performing And Visual Arts Requirement – Requires PSUs to provide K-5 students with instruction in music, dance, or theatre & visual arts.
   
• Section TBD, Early Literacy Program/Dyslexia – Amends the Early Literacy Program in G.S. 115C-83.4B(b) to require dyslexia screening of all children participating in the NC Pre-Kindergarten Program, sharing that information with the child’s kindergarten teacher upon enrollment, and providing training to educators and administrators working with children in the NC Pre-K program to ensure appropriate instruction and intervention strategies are used to support students displaying signs of dyslexia.  
   
• Section TBD, Modify CTE Grants For Homebuilding Programs – Establishes the CTE Homebuilding Grant Program to provide grants to assist PSUs with curriculum costs associated with CTE programs related to the U.S. Department of Labor approved Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training (PACT) program developed by the Home Builders Institute. Requires DPI to permit PSU high schools to use the PACT program as an approved curriculum for CTE programs and DPI must prioritize funding to PSUs that (i) are located, in whole or in part, in a county with at least one local school administrative unit that received low-wealth supplemental funding in the previous fiscal year and (ii) that have a high population of at-risk students or students with disabilities. DPI must open the grant program by July 15 each year, and PSUs receiving funding must report by Oct. 15 on data and impacts of the funding received, and then DPI must report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee (JLEOC) by Dec. 15.
   
• Section TBD, Use Of Local School Administrative Unit Maintained Properties For Public Hearings – Adds new section to Article 7 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes to require governing boards of school districts to allow the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to hold public hearings free of charge, except for custodial and utility fees, in non-school hours in their buildings; also amends G.S. 115C-47 to require LSAU governing boards to adopt a policy permitting the use of their buildings by DEQ for group meetings.
   
• Section TBD, Residency Licenses For Nonpublic EC Teachers – Makes nonpublic schools, including those that provide services for students with extraordinary costs attributable to providing the special education services on the student's IEP, eligible to request a residency license for their teachers.

• Section TBD, Social Media Literacy In Schools – Requires local boards of education to adopt an internet safety policy and to provide instruction regarding social media and its effects on health.

• Section TBD, Career Development Adjustment – Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to create an Annual Career Development Plan Pilot Program (Program) for students entering seventh grade at select schools during the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years and continuing through the students' graduation from high school. The purpose of the Program would be to evaluate the benefits of reviewing student plans annually rather than only in eighth and 10th grade.

• Section TBD, Failure Free Reading – Directs DPI to use $1.2 million nonrecurring to contract with JFL Enterprises, Inc., for a Failure Free Reading Program (Program) to improve middle school literacy, and to report to JLEOC by Sept. 15, 2026, on the number of PSUs that participated in the Program and compare their student outcomes with those in PSUs not participating.
   
• Section TBD, Study HVAC Solutions For Wake County Public School System Property – Provides funds 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.
   
• Section TBD, Interstate Compact For School Psychologists – Creates the School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact (Compact) to facilitate the interstate practice of School Psychology in educational or school settings. Outlines criteria for states to join the Compact and maintain eligibility as a Member State. Creates a joint government agency made up of all Member States that have enacted the Compact, known as the School Psychologist Interstate Licensure Compact Commission.
   
• Section TBD, Increase To EC Funding Cap – Increases the state funding cap to 13.25% for children with disabilities and provides an additional $10.6 million recurring for this purpose.
   
• Section TBD, Class Size Exemptions For Growing Counties – Permits PSUs to allow growing school districts to exceed K-3 class size requirements by three students. Growing districts are defined by an increase in student population of one-half percent (0.5%) of the average daily membership (ADM) of the local school administrative unit for two consecutive years. High performing schools (A or B on their school performance grade) would be permitted a waiver for five more kids per class in K-3 in these growing school districts. Schools are also permitted consecutive year waivers if they experience an unexpected increase in student populations over two percent (2%) of the school ADM.
   
• Section TBD, After School Robotics Grant Program – Provides funds for the after-school robotics grant program, which allows schools to apply for funds to develop competitive after-school robotics programs with a robotics partner.
   
• Section TBD, Funds For All Pro Dad – Provides a directed grant to Family First, Inc. to expand its All Pro Dad program to promote fatherhood and strengthening family bonds through resources, support, and events.
   
• Section TBD, Responsible Fatherhood North Carolina Act – Provides funds for DPI to contract with a nonprofit organization to develop and implement a program related to the promotion of fatherhood, including managing a grant program for community-based nonprofit organizations that address the needs of fathers or provide parenting education for fathers.
   
• Section TBD, Competitive Speech And Debate Grant Pilot – Establishes the Competitive Speech and Debate Team Grant Pilot Program (Program) to allow each public school serving students in grades 9-12 to form a speech and debate team that can participate in speech and debate competitions. The Program would begin in the 2025-2026 school year and conclude at the end of the 2028-2029 school year.
   
• Section TBD, Northeast Regional School Of Biotechnology And Agriscience – Establishes the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience (NRSBA) as a school of choice in the northeastern region of the State. The NRSBA may partner with other education partners, including local boards of education, institutions of higher education, private businesses or organizations, and shall foster, encourage, and promote the development of knowledge and skills in career clusters of importance to the region. The NRSBA is permitted to operate as a public school unit with a board of directors as the governing body.
   
• Section TBD, High-Intensity Tutoring Program – Requires Union County Public Schools (UCPS), with assistance from the DPI, to report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on Union County Public Schools' high-intensity tutoring program by April 1, 2026. Provides funds to UCPS to continue its high-intensity tutoring program.
   
• Section TBD, Diabetes Education For Parents – Requires PSUs to ensure that each school provides parents and legal guardians with information about type 1 and type 2 diabetes at the beginning of every school year.
   
• Section TBD, Medical Condition Action Plans – Directs PSUs to implement medical condition action plans adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-12(50) for each student at risk of a medical emergency as diagnosed by a doctor.

• Section TBD, North Carolina Student Lifeline Information – Directs local boards of education to adopt a policy ensuring all schools in the local school administrative unit provide students with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline number and the NC Peer Warmline.

• Section TBD, DPI To Continue Providing Financial Data Reporting Platform To Charters For Initial Year Of Operation – Requires DPI to provide a charter school access to any required financial data reporting platforms during the charter school's first year of operation at no cost to the charter school.
   
• Section TBD, Schools For The Deaf And Blind Amendments – Effective December 1, 2025, the Governor Morehead Preschool (GMP) and the Early Learning Sensory Program for Vision (ELSPV) are transferred from DPI to the Governor Morehead School for the Blind (GMSB). Effective December 1, 2025, the Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Hearing (ELSSPH) is transferred from DPI to North Carolina School for the Deaf (NCSD) and the Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf (ENCSD). Upon transfer, the NCSD and the ENCSD shall agree on a geographical boundary to divide the administrative responsibility for the ELSSPH between the two schools. Revises a requirement that requires, unless otherwise required by the board of trustees, the superintendent shall not be required to reside in the county in which the residential school is located.
   
• Section TBD, Repeal Economically Disadvantaged Public Schools Support Program And Establish Economically Disadvantaged Charter Schools Support Program – Repeals the Economically Disadvantaged Public Schools Support Program and Establishes the Economically Disadvantaged Charter Schools Support Program. It is the intent of the General Assembly that funds provided pursuant to this section will supplement and not supplant local funds.
   
• Section TBD, Require Local Boards Of Education To Publish Total Compensation And Position Information For Central Office Employees – Requires local school boards to publish pay and position information for central office employees.

 
Special Provisions In Other Education Sections Affecting Public Schools

• Sec. 6.5, Chapter 115D Reorganization – Reorganizes Chapter 115D (Community Colleges) that details statutory requirements for the following: Career and College Promise Program, Cooperative Innovative High Schools, Noncredit Courses, Gateway to College Program, NC Career Coach Program, and Driving Eligibility Certificate.
   
• Section TBD, Expedited Teacher Pipeline Pathway Study – Directs ApprenticeshipNC To Report To JLEOC By March 15 Each Year On a Plan To Facilitate One Or More Expedited Pathways For Apprenticeship Candidates To Enter The Teaching Profession; And To Develop The Plan In Collaboration With The Board Of Governors Of The University Of North Carolina, The State Board Of Community Colleges, The Department Of Public Instruction, And Teach NC.
   
• Section 8.4, Repeal Future Teachers Of North Carolina Program – Does as title indicates to eliminate funding for this program.
   
• Sec. 8.6, Laboratory Schools – Establishes standards for agreements between the University Of North Carolina System schools and Local School Administrative Units for the operation and maintenance of laboratory schools.
   
• Sec. 8.7, Broaden Teaching Fellows Award Parameters – Adds STEM, CTE, Middle Grades Language Arts, and English (9-12) – along with the existing authority for special education – that are eligible licensure areas for Teaching Fellows Awards; defines eligible special education teachers as those who spend at least 80% of his or her work time on activities related to special education; increases the awards maximum to $10,000 per year; and changes parameters for the forgivable loans to provide that special education teachers who remain as qualifying teachers for six months shall receive one year of loan forgiveness plus any interest accrued on that amount, while all others receive one year of forgiveness for one year as a qualifying teacher.
   
• Section 8.13, Office of Learning Research – Establishes the Office of Learning Research (OLR) to identify and evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of programs, activities, initiatives, procedures, and any other factors related to elementary and secondary education in the state. The OLR shall be housed within the North Carolina Collaboratory, and funding shall be administered by the Collaboratory pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 116-255 (c).
   
• Sec. 8A.2, Opportunity Scholarship Domicile – Revises certain Opportunity Scholarship domicile verification requirements.