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NCASA Legislative Priorities

2025 Legislative Priorities

The following information highlights the immediate legislative and policy needs for supporting public schools and their students in 2025 and beyond. The North Carolina Association of School Administrators (NCASA) asks the General Assembly, Governor, State Board of Education, and other policymakers to work with our organization’s 8,000 members on these initiatives critical for the success of our school leaders and the 1.4 million students they serve.

To download the NCASA 2025 Legislative Priorities, click HERE.



 

1. Funding & Financial Operations

  • Stabilize and enhance K-12 public school funding by:
    • Ensuring adequate base per-pupil funding before implementing any new weighted student funding model; and
       
    • Placing a moratorium on voucher expansion funding beyond 2024-25, unless that expansion occurs simultaneously with increased per-student funding for public schools (and/or teacher pay) plus increased measures of accountability and transparency. 
       
  • Provide additional state support for children with disabilities above the current 13% funding cap and revise the allotment to reflect the differentiated costs of supporting students with special needs, as recommended by the Department of Public Instruction.
     
  • Expand state revenue streams to help all counties and school districts address the more than $13 billion in identified school facility needs through 2026.
     
  • Increase the portion of NC Education Lottery proceeds that contribute to public K-12 education needs, such as
    Pre-Kindergarten program funding, school construction, student scholarships, and transportation needs.
     
  • Expand and make permanent cybersecurity funding, training, and overall support for LEAs as digital threats continue to grow.

2. Talent Acquisition, Development, and Retention

  • Help restore North Carolina’s reputation as a national leader in education by:
    • Raising principal and teacher pay to the highest in the Southeast by 2026;
       
    • Reinstating advanced degree supplements for teachers and principals; and
       
    • Enhancing employee benefits, including reinstating the paid health insurance for retirees that was phased out for new employees as of 1/1/2021.
       
  • Address ongoing, critical school staffing shortages by:
    • Providing targeted increases in state funding for employees working in high-need areas, including but not limited to Bus Drivers & Mechanics, Teacher Assistants, Special Education Teachers, STEM Teachers, Career & Technical Education (CTE) Teachers, Mental Health Support Personnel, Child Nutrition Staff, School Maintenance Staff, and School Technology Staff – most of whom are currently able to earn more in the private sector or in a similar role in another public sector agency.
       
    • Expanding options for rehiring retirees, particularly in high-need professions.
       
  • Reform the principal pay plan to:
    • Reflect a career progression pathway;
       
    • Increase stability in base salary by reducing the portion dependent on student testing data and adding school complexity and principal retention components;
       
    • Maintain the current bonus structure to reward exceptional performance; and
       
    • Include a hold-harmless provision to prevent cuts to any principal’s base pay.
       
  • Provide state funding for at least 1 assistant principal (AP) per school and another AP for each additional 500 students.

3. Student Learning, Innovation, & Achievement

  • Improve the state’s School Performance Grades system to include multiple components reflecting student success, as follows:
    • Retain achievement measures (EOGs, EOCs, and other performance indicators for non-tested subjects).
       
    • Increase value of “meeting or exceeding” student growth targets.
       
    • Add or retain additional indicators based on school administrator feedback.
       
    • Revise the definition of “low-performing schools” to exclude those that meet growth.
       
  • Continue North Carolina’s focus on student reading proficiency by maintaining state investments in student literacy support, including, but not limited to, ongoing funding for literacy specialists in each district.

4. Student Safety & Well-Being

  • Expand state support for addressing student mental health needs.
     
  • Enhance school safety on all K-12 campuses by making the School Safety Grant Program permanent with recurring state funding.
     
  • Increase collaboration between special education administrators and the NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) to streamline services and billing practices for Medicaid-eligible student programs.

5. School and District Leadership

  • Provide additional state funding to enhance training for teachers and administrators navigating the transition to a new Student Information System (SIS) software.
     
  • Allow LEAs to set “student-centered” calendars like charter, Restart, Cooperative Innovative High Schools, and private schools receiving taxpayer funds are empowered to do.
     
  • Expand waiver options for school districts struggling to meet K-3 class size mandates and eliminate the mandated district-wide average ratios in those grade levels.
For additional information on these or other public-school priorities, contact:
Katherine Joyce
Executive Director
 
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