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July 4, 2026

[1]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org
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Finally...A Budget!

After a year of waiting, on June 30th, the final day of the fiscal year,
lawmakers had just one day to read and respond to a budget drafted by
legislative leadership behind closed doors.

In two days, July 2nd, legislative leaders pushed the bill through both the
House and Senate and sent to Governor Stein who has 10 days to sign, veto,
or let the bill become law without his signature.

The 600+ page [7]Senate Bill 257- 2026 Appropriations Act contains plenty
of policy items as well as budget items that we’ll be sharing more about in
upcoming weeks. Here are some highlights:

Teachers receive an average of 8% pay increase, but the increases fall
primarily at the early years of the pay scale. Beginning teachers get a 17%
bump and veteran teachers receive approximately 5%.

State salaries for beginning teachers increase from $41,000/year to
$48,000/year for 2026-27, bringing North Carolina in line with surrounding
states and just $500/year below South Carolina's 2025-26 starting salary.
The pay raises are not retroactive to make up for last year’s salary
freeze.

School principals and non-certified staff will also receive a 3% raise and
assistant principals, who are paid based on the teacher salary schedule,
will receive an average 6.3% salary increase.

All other school employees will receive an average 3% raise. Noncertified
and central office staff will also earn a one-time bonus. Those earning
less than $65,000 will receive $1,750, while staff earning more than
$65,000 will receive $1,000. It is important to note bonuses are taxed at a
higher rate (~30%) than salaries.

Retirees will also receive a one-time cost of living adjustment (COLA) of
2.5%, which falls far short of recent cost increases.

The budget allocates $30 million more in salary supplements to pay teachers
for Advanced Teaching Roles and to add more schools to the program.

Scheduled income tax cuts remain in place, which drops our current 3.99% to
3.49% in 2027. Earlier in June, lawmakers added a proposed constitutional
amendment that will prevent future lawmakers from raising individual income
tax cuts above 3.5%.

The 2023 Appropriations Act required the state to calculate how much public
schools lost in funding from students moving from public school to private
school through the Opportunity Scholarship voucher program and to reinvest
the lost dollars in public schools. Earlier this year, DPI reported that
the state [8]owed public schools slightly more than $35 million for the
past two years.

The 2026 Appropriations Act allocates the $35 million to three areas:
one-time bonuses of $1,750 for school nutrition and custodial staff, middle
school literacy professional development, and the purchase of a K-8 math
curriculum which the NC Collaboratory will have to adapt to make it align
with the NC Standard Course of Study.

In the past two years, private schools have received [9]more than $617
million in voucher funding from the state. Approximately 90% ($555 million)
paid the tuition for students who had never attended public school.

POLICY PROVISIONS INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET: Many of these provisions were
from bills that did not advance in the session. This practice allows
leadership to bypass the traditional approval process and institute
policies that were not resolved by both the House and Senate. For example,
this budget changes public record laws and repeals healthcare
certificate-of-needs rules and more, all advanced through the budget
process. Some policies in the budget that impact public schools are:

Public schools will be required to allow students to miss class for
religious instruction. Currently, the law allows students two excused
absences per year for religious observances. The religious instruction must
take place off school property and must not exceed more than four hours per
week.

Statewide AI rules for public schools: The NC Dept. of Public Instruction
is to develop a model AI policy that all local schools districts, charter
schools, and laboratory schools must adopt. Educators will be required to
complete AI training by June 30, 2028.

Public schools will be required to serve the same meal to all students
regardless of whether they have unpaid meal debt. Currently, some districts
serve an alternative meal to students who have meal debt. Although this
provision will be good for student health, it does not come with funding,
so it will further strain district budgets. Note that charter schools and
private schools are not required to provide school lunches.

The budget also makes it easier for teachers in other states to get a
teaching license in NC and expands elementary K-6 licenses to grades 7 and
8.

Students who score at the highest level on end-of-grade reading tests will
be automatically enrolled in the most advanced ELA class available at the
next grade level (unless a parent intervenes). This policy is already in
place for math courses.

A chronic absenteeism pilot program will be led by NC DPI to test
attendance intervention systems in several school districts.

A new statewide process for challenging instructional materials: Challenges
(including library books) must be filed by local parents, guardians,
teachers, or residents within the school's attendance zone. This provision
requires school districts to establish a "Community Media Advisory
Committee" and explicitly eliminates the ability of national advocacy
groups to challenge materials. More details on the committee process
[10]found here and [11]here.

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and the Statewide Peer Warmline: Increases
funds to support prominently displaying both the 988 and NC Peer Warmline
phone numbers (855-733-7762) across all levels of education, including
public schools, charter schools, community colleges, and universities.

Happy Birthday USA!

Reaching 250 years is a great accomplishment for our nation, and though
we’re experiencing a time when too many elected officials are attacking
public schools, we should remember that our founding fathers were clear in
their commitment to public education. As the second president of our great
nation said,

“The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole
people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a
district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a
charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people
themselves.” -John Adams, President of the United States (1797-1801)

Even before the Constitution of the United States of America was officially
ratified in 1788, the Northwest ordinances of 1785 and 1787 firmly
established the importance of public education to our nation’s success.
These founding documents set out the rules of governance and settlements,
the process for admitting new states in the Northwest Territory, and
prohibited slavery in the territories.

The 1785 ordinance stated that a section of each new township had to be set
aside for the support of public schools. The 1787 ordinance included as a
statement affirming the importance of education: “...being necessary to
good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of
education shall forever be encouraged.”

Legislative and SBE Updates

State lawmakers approve 2026 budget package with [12]SB257.
* [13]Bill Text: 2026 Appropriations Act
* [14]Budget Table of Contents
* [15]Committee “Money” Report
* [16]House Bill 56: 2026 Budget Technical Corrections

[17]HB 958 (Election Law Changes): Following its placement on the House
calendar on June 30th, this controversial bill passed its1st reading in the
Senate. The bill was sent to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations
on July 1st.

[18]HB 171 (Equality in State Agencies/Prohibition on DEI)- This bill bans
all DEI initiatives, training, positions and personnel, or other related
programs across government workplaces in NC and using DEI considerations in
hiring. Governor Stein vetoed this bill in July of 2025. The NC House voted
Wednesday, June 24th, to override the veto in a vote 71-47. The bill is
still with the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations.

Read the Week in Review on our [19]Legislative Updates page for a summary
of recent legislative activity.

Check the [20]legislative calendar for updates.

Eligibility Information for Free or Reduced-Price School Meals

“Educational excellence isn’t achieved through engaging and rigorous
classrooms alone. Healthy and nutritious meals are essential to ensuring
students are focused and ready to learn,” Green said. “When students eat
school meals, they have improved focus and academic success.” — NC
Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green

The federal income eligibility guidelines for July 1, 2026, through June
30, 2027, are [21]available HERE.

Applications for free and reduced-price school meals are being made
available to all households. Applications should be available in the office
at each school in North Carolina. [22]Learn more from NCDPI.

What Do You Know About NC Private School Vouchers?

Our latest quiz has five more questions about North Carolina's
taxpayer-funded private school voucher program. What do you know about the
program? Take our quiz and find out!

[23]TAKE THE QUIZ

Get Ready for Elections 2026

July 6th is the 120-day mark before election day in November. The time will
pass quickly; it's not too early to start researching candidates and making
selections.

The 2026 elections will have a direct, serious impact on public education.
We need ALL voters engaged and ready to cast your ballot. Be sure to know
important dates, how to register to vote and more. Check out NCVoter.org
and Vote411.org for important, non-partisan information on the 2026
elections

To help with learning about candidate views on education, PSFNC has created
an [24]Education Position Questionnaire. Keep an eye on it to see whether
candidates in your area have responded.

In Case You Missed It

[25]Does NC legislature value teacher experience?

[26]NC Gov. Stein says he's weighing budget bill

[27]Final budget preserves tax cuts while shifting costs to counties and
families

[28]NC budget provides retirees with one-time bonus instead of permanent
benefit increases

[29]NC public schools lost money due to vouchers. How lawmakers are
responding

[30]Eight myths about vouchers

[31]Math, meals, period products and book challenges: What's in the budget
for K-12 education

Did You Miss a Webinar?

NC COLLEGE CONNECT: If you missed the June 25 webinar about NC College
Connect, view it on our YouTube channel [32]HERE. You can also register for
our for next session: August 13, 7:00 p.m. [33]REGISTER HERE.

The NC Connect program simplifies the college admissions process by
directly admitting eligible public high school seniors. Every senior on
track to graduate will receive a letter from NC College Connect in
mid-September letting them know which participating UNC System
universities, North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, and
local North Carolina community college they are eligible to attend!

Please share this informative NC College Connect [34]program flyer.

Constitutional Amendments: How Will They Hurt Funding for Our Public
Schools? If you missed this webinar featuring Senator Lisa Grafstein and
Representative Phil Rubin, [35]WATCH HERE.

Sen. Grafstein and Rep. Rubin discussed the two constitutional amendments
the NCGA pushed through both chambers in May to place on the November 3,
2026 ballot. Watch the webinar to learn about the amendments and how they
are likely to impact our schools and our state.

Words to Remember

"When public schools are weakened—through funding cuts, through the
diversion of students and dollars, through the erosion of the teaching
profession—the consequences fall hardest on the children least able to seek
alternatives. For those left behind in underfunded, understaffed public
schools, there is no choice at all."

— NPE, Public Schooling in America

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.

[36]DONATE HERE

[37]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Questions? Contact us today at [email protected]

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