Legislative Priorities
The information below highlights the immediate legislative and policy needs for supporting local public schools and their students in the coming year and beyond. NCASA asks the General Assembly, Governor, State Board of Education, and other policymakers to work with our organization’s more than 8,000 members on these initiatives critical for the success of our school leaders and the 1.4 million students they serve.
NCASA Members may access more resources from our Advocacy Center on the member portal by clicking HERE.
2026 Legislative and Policy Priorities
Funding and 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 2025-26, unless that expansion occurs simultaneously with increased per-student funding for public schools (and/or teacher pay) plus increased measures of accountability and transparency for the voucher program.
- Increase state support for helping all 115 school districts address the more than $13 billion in facility needs already identified through 2026 and the additional capital needs being determined by the five-year survey to be conducted soon by the Department of Public Instruction.
- Authorize a significant statewide bond referendum for supplementing county support for school facility construction, repairs, and renovations, since the last occurred in 1996.
- Broaden the parameters for the Needs-Based Public School Capital grants and increase its funding to address facility needs in more school districts annually and expedite the process for grant recipients to build and renovate schools.
- 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.
- Identify adequate state revenues to head off all 2025 proposed cuts to public schools including:
- School District Central Office Allotment which is less than 1% of total state funding for public schools.
- Masters in School Administration Program Principal Intern stipends.
- Funding for Advanced Placement, Cambridge, and International Baccalaureate Test Fees.
- Fund additional disaster relief efforts and recovery programs for affected public schools in impacted counties.
- Offset any federal funding loss that would negatively impact public school students and/or staff.
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, and
- Reinstating advanced degree supplements for teachers and principals.
- Address ongoing, critical school staffing shortages in public schools by:
- Providing targeted increases for employees working in high-need areas, and
- 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,
- Add school complexity and principal retention components,
- Maintain the current bonus structure to reward exceptional performance, and
- Hold all principals’ base pay harmless in implementing these other revisions.
- Provide state funding for at least 1 assistant principal (AP) per school and another AP for each additional 500 students.
Student Learning, Innovation, and Achievement
- Improve the state’s School Performance Grades system to include multiple components of student success:
- Retain achievement measures (EOGs, EOCs, and other performance indicators for non-tested subjects).
- Increase the value of “meeting or exceeding” student growth targets.
- Revise the definition of “low-performing schools” to exclude those that meet growth.
Student Safety and Well-Being
- Expand state support for increasing School Health Support Personnel and funding services to address student mental health needs.
- Enhance school safety on all K-12 campuses by making the School Safety Grants Program permanent with recurring state funding.
- Partner with public school leaders to streamline services and billing practices for Medicaid-eligible student programs.
School and District Leadership
- Allow LEAs to set “student-centered” calendars like charter schools, restart schools, Cooperative Innovative High Schools, and private schools receiving taxpayer funds are already 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
or
Bill O’Donnell
NCASA Legislative Affairs & Policy Manager
Additional Education Legislative Resources
NC General Assembly Information: