Let Legislators Know Your Education Priorities |
|
|---|
|
|
There is still time to let legislators know your funding priorities for our public schools! The NC House passed their version of the new biennial budget on May 22, 2025. The NC Senate failed to approve the House's version of the budget on June 3, 2025 so they appointed a budget conference committee to create a compromise budget that both of the legislative chambers could approve. The 2025-26 budget conference committee is composed of legislators appointed by House and Senate leaders. According to recent news articles, the conference committee has been unable to agree on a new two-year state budget. While the legislators are debating what to fund in the budget, this is a great time to let them know your priorities for the education budget. The conferees are commissioned with reconciling differences between the two budget proposals and your views could help them decide. Currently there are significant differences between the Senate and the House on how to pay teachers and fund public schools. By engaging with the conference committee members, you have the opportunity to highlight the importance of specific budget allocations and advocate for priorities that are important to you or your organization. Your voice, as a constituent, holds weight and helps inform their policy choices. The list of lawmakers appointed to be on the conference committee to create the final budget was released on June 12, 2025. Use these emails for the committee members. They are also listed on the NCGA website HERE. Public Education Priorities: While there are many funding needs in our public schools, we suggest five that are known to significantly impact a student’s ability to succeed in school. When you contact members of the conference budget committee, urge them to: - Improve teacher pay. Teacher pay must be our top funding priority. A qualified, experienced teacher is the strongest in-school predictor of student achievement. Without competitive compensation, we cannot recruit, retain, or respect the professionals our students need to be prepared for college and career in the 21st century.
- Fully fund NC-PreK to give eligible four-year-old children a high-quality early childhood education that prepares them for success in kindergarten and beyond.
- Increase the number of helping professionals in public schools: school social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses. These professionals are vital in fostering a child’s emotional well-being. They provide the support teachers need to help every student achieve academic success.
- Provide a teacher assistant in EVERY K-3 grade class. Limit class size to 25 for grades 4 and 5.
- Provide meals at no-cost to every student. One in five children in NC live in poverty and face hunger daily. NC’s child poverty rate ranks 10th highest in the nation. By providing healthy and accessible meals, schools can create a more equitable and supportive environment where all students have the opportunity to thrive.
Urge Legislators to Consider These Facts In Their Deliberations: - NC public schools are struggling to fully staff classrooms and meet basic needs due to chronic underfunding and rising costs
- NC ranks 48th in the nation for per-pupil spending, approximately $5,000 less per student than the national average
- Research shows that teachers are the #1 school-related factor that impacts student outcomes
- North Carolina is 48th among states in funding level–$4,868 below the national average of $16,645 per pupil spending
- NC ranks 43rd in the nation for average teacher pay—$13,738 below the national average and five spots lower than last year
- Teachers in NC have seen declining real wages when adjusted for inflation over the past decade
- NC is losing its best teachers to nearby states that paid significantly more
- Research shows that more adequate school spending leads to improved academic outcomes for students, especially those who have greater need
- NC’s economic competitiveness depends on a strong K-12 public education system that prepares students to be effective members of the workforce
- NC legislators keep cutting corporate taxes, shifting more and more of the responsibility of funding education to local government
- NC legislators have allocated $731 million in public funds to unaccountable private school vouchers that divert funding for public schools that serve the majority of students
- NC legislators have a sworn duty to uphold our state's Constitution which guarantees every child a free, high quality public education to prepare them to fully participate in our democracy.
We encourage you to call, write, or email today! Our public schools and educators need our help! We need a significant increase in teacher salaries to retain our great educators and recruit new ones. Your voice is urgently needed now. No time to call or write? Click below to SIGN OUR PETITION to the Budget Conference Committee! |
|
|---|
|
|
Joint Statement Regarding HB 832 & SB 254 |
Chairman of the NC State Board of Education Eric Davis and NC Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice "Mo" Green published a press release stating that they were deeply concerned by the Charter Schools Review Board provisions in the latest versions of House Bill 832 and Senate Bill 254. The main concern centered around provisions in the bills that they believe violate the NC Constitution and risk undermining public confidence in the integrity, oversight and unity of North Carolina's public school system. They urged legislators to reconsider these provisions to ensure that the public school system remains strong, accountable and worthy of our communities' confidence. Read the entire press release HERE. |
|
|---|
|
|
| - NC has the most highly qualified teachers in the nation -- the most National Board Certified teachers than any other state
- Public school teachers are dedicated to helping our children succeed. Between 2021-24, NC teachers spent a combined 6.5 million hours learning about the science of reading.
- Creativity is prevalent in our public schools producing amazing outcomes! More than 87% of graduates go to two or four-year colleges and universities and more
- There are 134 early college public high schools in NC that allow students to graduate with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree.
- Public schools are preparing students for college AND careers! In 2023-24 public school students across NC earned 358,069 workforce industry-recognized credentials, topping all previous years!
- Public Schools educate 8 in 10 school-aged children in NC! Surveys show that parents are highly satisfied with their children’s experiences.
- Public Schools are in the TOP 5 employers for all 100 counties! When we support our local school district, we support our local economy!
- Public schools are the best financial investment in our communities that we can make. The readiness of our students and our graduation rates (86.5% in 2024-25) makes this investment unmatched
|
|
|---|
|
|
Legislative and SBE Updates |
|
|---|
|
|
Bad Bill - SB 50 "Freedom to Carry Act" |
|
|---|
|
|
| Senate Bill 50 "Freedom to Carry Act" allows anyone 18 or older to purchase and carry a concealed handgun without obtaining a permit or taking a firearms training course. Current law limits concealed handgun carry permits to those 21 or older who have obtained a permit and have passed a criminal background check. If this bill passes into law, it will allow more young people with no training on how to properly use or store a weapon o own and carry handguns without passing a background check. North Carolina currently ranks 16th in the U.S. in the rate of school shootings. Let's not make the situation worse! Ask Governor Stein to Veto SB 50! |
|
|---|
|
|
Did You Miss Our Latest Report? |
|
|---|
|
|
| A new report published by Public Schools First NC reviews the curriculum used by North Carolina private schools that accept taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers (NC K-12 Private Schools 2024-25: A Review of Curriculum). North Carolina’s lawmakers have spent nearly 1.5 billion taxpayer dollars on private school vouchers since the program’s launch but they still require no oversight of the curriculum taught by the schools that receive state funds. The reports show that just 7% of voucher-receiving private schools use standards that align to North Carolina’s content standards. Seventy-three percent of the private schools that received tuition voucher funds in 2024-25 are religious and use curriculum explicitly founded on a biblical worldview. Some education experts worry that these materials do not have the academic content and rigor required by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study when preparing students for postsecondary options. |
|
|---|
|
|
| NC PEN is the NC Public Education Network, a resource to help connect all those who are passionate about our public schools – students, parents, educators and the general public all across NC. Contact folks in your community and join together to advocate for better teacher pay, more support staff in our schools like nurses, social workers and school psychologists and no costs meals for all students. Go to this link and click on the county to view the groups we know about that are working in your county. Help us GROW this network and make it stronger. If you know a group supporting or working with the public school system in a particular county that we should include, please contact us at [email protected]. |
|
|---|
|
|
What is NOT in the "Draft" Budget So Far... |
|
|---|
|
|
| What’s Not In The Budget: Funding for Universal School Meals A Teacher Assistant in Every K-3 Grade Class Cost of Living Increase for Retired Educators Funding to Clear the NC Pre-K Waitlist Affordable Health Care Costs for Educators School Staff Raises that Cover the Cost of Inflation Money to Help Districts Replace Failing HVAC Systems More School Nurses, Psychologists & Social Workers What IS in the Budget: - $1.36 Billion for School Vouchers In Next 2 Yrs
- Another reduction to the NC Corporate tax rate
- More Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
|
|
|---|
|
|
Calling Western NC Educators! |
|
|---|
|
|
| Call for Participants: Oral History Project for WNC Educators Affected by Hurricane Helene Dr. Amelia Wheeler (Western Carolina University) and Dr. Morgan Tate (University of Georgia) are launching a research project titled Beyond the Storm: A Tribute to Appalachian Teachers and Their Stories. This oral history project seeks to document the experiences of public school educators in Western North Carolina who taught during and after Hurricane Helene. If you are a K–12 public school educator in the Appalachian region and were working in a school impacted by Hurricane Helene, you may be eligible to participate. Participation includes: - A one-hour, audio-recorded interview conducted at a location of your choice in your community
- A $100 gift card as a thank-you
- Optional review of interview excerpts before public sharing or publication
- A $75 contribution offered to your school district to offset substitute costs (if the interview occurs during the school day)
Interviews will take place between May and September 2025. The project aims to honor educators' stories and make visible the critical roles they play during times of crisis. Interested in participating? Want to know more? Please Contact: |
|
|---|
|
|
| Need a speaker for your next event or group meeting? PSFNC welcomes the opportunity to speak to your group or organization on public education-related topics. We offer our programs virtually to improve accessibility and attendance and therefore extend your reach. Our services are free of charge but may require travel-related expenses if the program is in-person. Email us at [email protected] for more information. |
|
|---|
|
|
Words to Remember"Millions of families of color as well as poor whites stand to lose as they truly have no choice other than to enroll their children in underfunded, segregated schools, public, private, or charter. Choice has provided a safety net for some but the majority are in peril." — Jon Hale, The Choice We Face p. 165 |
|
|---|
|
|
Help us support public schools!Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused solely on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents, teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each child for productive citizenship. |
|
|---|
|
|
|
