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September 27, 2025

[1]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org
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Private School Staff Excluded from Required Criminal Background Checks

This week the NC House took action on a bill to enhance criminal background
checks for public school staff and administrators, but members failed to
include requirements for private school staff and administrators.

Current state law requires traditional public schools to develop and
implement a plan to require criminal background checks for staff and
administrators. Charter schools are required to follow the policy set by
the local school district. However, the law did not address the criminal
background of the board of directors of nonprofits seeking to open charter
schools, and it left the scope of criminal background check requirements up
to local districts.

House Bill 775 "[7]Criminal History Checks for School Positions," adds
requirements for all school staff (including bus drivers, custodians,
substitute teachers, and clerical staff) and independent contractors of
traditional and charter schools as well as charter school applicants to
pass a criminal background check. This is an important step in ensuring
student safety.

However, HB 775 does not require criminal background checks for private
school board members, administrators or staff, even if the private school
accepts taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers. [8]Current law requires a
criminal background check for only one person—the staff member with the
highest decision-making authority.

Why were private schools excluded from HB 775 requirements? Lawmakers truly
interested in the safety of our children would require that private schools
apply the same safety measures as required by public schools and adjust HB
775 accordingly.

HB 775 also enhanced the reporting requirements for public schools
(traditional and charter schools). Private schools were left out again.
Why?

Current state law requires public school administrators to report to the
State Board of Education within 30 days of receiving information about any
licensed employee (e.g., teacher) who has engaged in misconduct that
resulted in disciplinary action, dismissal, or if the employee resigned due
to the misconduct. Failure to report the offense to the State Board within
5 days of the disciplinary action or resignation is currently a Class I
felony.

HB 775 adds a new category of reportable offense: “intentional infliction
of emotional distress against a child.” Discussion raised concerns about
the bill’s vague language; administrators are left to decide what qualifies
as “intentional infliction" and “emotional distress” that merits reporting
to the State Board.

Current state law also requires school principals to report to local law
enforcement if any of a number of offenses occurs on school property (e.g.,
sexual assault, indecent liberties with a minor, assault involving a
weapon). HB 775 adds to the list a “threat directed at a teacher,” but
makes some exceptions for threats by students with certain disabilities
(e.g., intellectual disability). Discussion by House members again raised
concerns about the vague language. HB 775 provides no guidance on the level
or type of threat that would require reporting.

These enhanced reporting requirements apply to all public schools
(traditional and charter). The law makes no mention of reporting
requirements for private schools.

If lawmakers persist in spending hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars
on tuition payments at private schools, they must also ensure that the
schools meet the same safety standards as public schools.

[9]Contact your legislators. Ask why private schools were excluded from HB
775 safety requirements.

The Perfect Storm: NC Public Schools Under Threat

North Carolina’s public schools have been open for a month. They are facing
unprecedented financial challenges that undermine their ability to provide
the programs our students need and deserve. These challenges are creating a
perfect storm with the potential to push our public education system closer
to the brink of disaster. The key factors creating NC’s perfect storm are
at all levels of government: federal, state, and local. We have NO
finalized state budget for this school year, NO ruling from the NC Supreme
Court to release the $1 billion Leandro funding owed to districts, looming
federal education cuts totaling $200 million, and the growing inability of
local governments, especially low-wealth districts, to absorb the loss of
state and federal funding.
1. State Budget Delay: The lack of a finalized state budget creates
uncertainty for school districts, affecting planning and delaying programs
and services. All state employees, including educators, are impacted as
potential salary adjustments and benefits are in limbo. This is the main
job of the legislature and is avoidable.
2. Leandro Funding Freeze: the decades-old lawsuit against the state for
equitable education funding is still stalled, awaiting a ruling from the NC
Supreme Court. The Leandro funding is critical for addressing budget gaps
between high-wealth (mostly urban) districts and low-wealth (mostly rural)
districts. It is essential for providing fair, equitable education that all
students deserve and are guaranteed by our state constitution. (Learn more
about [10]Leandro here.)
3. Federal Funding Cuts: The federal Department of Education is proposing
$12 billion in cuts to public education nationwide starting October 1st.
NC’s portion of the cuts is projected to be [11]approximately $200 million,
but the cuts are not distributed evenly across the state. Rural areas, with
many of the lowest wealth communities and schools, are going to suffer the
largest cuts. Access our [12]interactive map to see how much funding NC
congressional districts stand to lose.
4. Local Government Burden: It is the state’s responsibility to fund
instructional and operational expenses (including personnel, instructional
materials, transportation, and more) while county governments are
responsible for the cost of capital expenses (buildings and maintenance).
Over time, local governments have been left to shoulder more of the public
school funding burden because state-level funding hasn't kept pace with the
demand for instructional expenses including recruiting and retaining
certified educators. This shift of financial responsibility to local
entities, especially in counties with lower tax bases, exacerbates funding
inequities between wealthy and poor districts. [13]Public School Forum
summarizes their findings on local school finance: “Although the ten
poorest counties tax themselves at 1.7 times the rate as the state’s ten
wealthiest counties, funding disparities continue to grow between our
poorest and wealthiest counties.” ([14]Read More: Trump push to cut support
for English learners turns spotlight on states)

A "perfect storm" for worsening public education funding has been the
convergence of economic (rising costs and inflation, the loss of pandemic
funding, increasing reliance of local property taxes), political (state
cuts in corporate cuts, unpredictability of federal funds, increased
spending on private school vouchers, and demographic factors ( increased
students needs, falling birth rates). These factors are having a negative
impact on school budgets, causing significant budget deficits, staff
layoffs, and program cuts.

A perfect storm does not hit all school districts equally. NC school
districts have many pre-existing inequalities centered around poverty and
race. When high-poverty school districts receive fewer resources than
wealthy ones (as documented in the Leandro case), especially during the
extended period of disinvestment schools are facing now, they leave the
most vulnerable students even further behind.

NC One of the States Most Heavily Impacted by Federal Education Cuts

Proposed federal education cuts aren’t going to hit all states equally.
Some states spend a lot on education and rely less on federal dollars.
Other states spend less or serve higher numbers of students in low-income
areas, so schools rely more on federal dollars to fill in gaps in state and
local funding.

An analysis by [15]ERS (Education Resource Strategies) found that North
Carolina is one of the 12 states most affected by federal education funding
cuts. Their analysis looked at three factors:
1. How much of each state’s education funding is federal
2. How many districts serve students living in poverty
3. How many students attend a “high need” district

North Carolina ranked high in all three factors, joining states such as
Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and West Virginia.

The federal budget has not been finalized. We hope our U.S. senators and
representatives do their part to ensure that the proposed cuts are not
made. Our students and communities can’t afford another hit. [16]READ MORE

Legislative and SBE Updates

The NCGA met this week and advanced several bills. Two are now awaiting
Governor Stein’s signature:

[17]HB 358/SB 51 “Continuing Budget Operations Part II,” a mini-budget bill
moved forward instead of a comprehensive budget bill. HB 358 adds funding
for Hurricane Helene relief and makes a number of smaller investments, but
it fails to address Medicaid coverage, teacher and state employee salaries,
and other major budget items. As a result, schools and staff continue to
operate under last year’s budget levels and North Carolinians face major
cuts to healthcare.

[18]HB 307 "Iryna’s Law,” which had no action since May, moved quickly this
week. Originally titled “Various Criminal Law Revisions,” the updated bill
was renamed to recognize the recent stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna
Zarutska on a subway in Charlotte. The bill added several provisions
including to more closely monitor magistrates, study mental health, and
reinstate the use of the death penalty (halted in NC since 2006).

Read our [19]Week in Review for more updates.

Blog: NC Students Deserve Honesty and Action

By Kris Nordstrom, NC Justice Center

NC Senator Michael Lee is touting his party’s record on school funding on
social media, but it’s a drastic exaggeration. Lee has spent the majority
of his time at the NC General Assembly as one of the Senate’s key education
budget writers. One would then expect that Lee would be able to provide his
followers with an accurate picture of the state of school funding in North
Carolina. Unfortunately, he fails to do so.

In his post on how public school funding has changed in North Carolina
from 2014 to 2024, Lee dramatically overstated the extent of the increase.
Lee’s bottom line is that funding increased so much over this ten-year
period, that the state is now “investing $1.7 billion more than inflation
[would account for] alone.”

In reality, per-student funding has only increased slightly during this
period due to several factors. An experienced budget writer should know
better.

The main issue with Lee’s post is that he fails to recognize that schools
face a rate of inflation that differs from traditional measures like the
Consumer Price Index. The CPI measures the price changes of a “basket of
goods” for a typical urban consumer. Of course, a school district’s “basket
of goods” looks a lot different than the typical person’s expenditures.
North Carolina school districts spend over 90 percent of their funding on
salaries and benefits for staff, most of whom are college-educated.

[20]READ MORE

Did You Know?

The teacher pay penalty reached a record high in 2024!

Over the past three decades, stagnant weekly wages of public school
teachers have fallen further and further behind those of college graduates
who chose other careers, resulting in an ever increasing teacher pay gap
that hit a record high in 2024. [21]READ MORE

In Case You Missed It

[22]Medicaid cuts loom as NC legislature wraps up without agreement, budget
deal

[23]Nearly a third of WS/FCS students were chronically absent last year.
Officials say anxiety is a big factor.

[24]Trump admin cancels special ed grant to UNC-CH to train future Pre-K
teachers across NC

[25]Educators Can Play a Role in Preventing Student Suicide

[26]Researchers Find it 'Nearly Impossible' to Gauge Microschools' Impact

Making NC Schools the BEST in the Nation

Pillar 5 of [27]Achieving Educational Excellence: 2025-30 Strategic Plan
for North Carolina Public Schools is Optimize Operational Excellence.

NCDPI is committed to reimagining its operational infrastructure to better
serve schools and districts through a focus on organizational
excellence…Through modernized operations at both the state and local
levels, we aim to use cutting-edge technology, streamlined processes and
data-informed decision-making to eliminate unnecessary administrative
burdens.

Through this pillar, NCDPI will model that careful attention to processes,
systems and service delivery creates the essential foundation upon which
educational innovation can flourish, ultimately ensuring that North
Carolina’s public schools operate with maximum effectiveness to support the
success of every student.

Pillar 5 includes five specific measures of success including these two:
* Establish a baseline and increase the number of PSUs (public schools)
that adopt modernized financial and human resources systems.
* Establish a baseline and decrease total statewide technology contract
expenditures by renegotiating or discontinuing contracts that fall below
established return on investment benchmarks and redirect the savings to
high-impact, evidence-based tools.

To achieve these goals, the plan identities actions grouped into three
focus areas. Each focus area includes multiple actions and target
completion dates. Below is an example action for each focus area:
* Improve NCDPI’s services to stakeholders: Create and share NCDPI
guidance focused on capacity building for PSUs, including best practices
for strategic purchasing decisions and aligning budget decisions with
instructional priorities. (June 2026)
* Improve collaboration and communication across NCDPI offices: Establish
an intra-agency working group to identify and address barriers to
operational consistency, collaboration and communication across NCDPI
offices. (January 2026)
* Modernize NCDPI and PSU operations: Develop and implement a uniform
framework for the handling of data, including collection, validation,
management, security and reporting processes, across all NCDPI departments.
(March 2026)
* Superintendent Green is traveling around the state to share the plan
and engage stakeholders. Find locations and times at the [28]NCDPI website.
On Monday, September 29th, he will in the Sandhills.

Did You Miss a Webinar?

We have had some terrific webinars in the past few weeks, but if you missed
one, don't worry. We record our webinars and post them to our website so
you can catch the ones you missed and watch them as many times as you want.

Recent Webinars:
* Achieving Educational Excellence: A Conversation with Superintendent Mo
Green
* Leandro & the Courts: An Update with NC Supreme Court Justice Anita
Earls

[29]Find All Webinars Here

Mark Your Calendar!

Multiple Dates, 7:00-8:30 pm: Resilience and ACES. Learn about Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACES) and resilience. Join us for this
award-winning, 60-minute film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The
Science of Hope. This documentary examines how abuse, neglect, and other
adverse childhood experiences affect children’s development & health
outcomes in adulthood. This powerful movie is a conversation starter and a
perspective changer.

[30]REGISTER HERE

All screenings are on Thursday and include time for discussion.
* October 23, 2025
* January 22, 2026
* February 26, 2026
* March 26, 2026

We will also set up a private screening for your school staff, PTA, civic
group, church, or synagogue. Email us: [email protected]

Words to Remember

"The typical American private school serves just 30 students, has modest
tuition and might meet in a church basement."

— Dana Goldstein, NYT Article on new report: The Effects of Universal
School Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment

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.

[31]DONATE HERE

[32]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Questions? Contact us today at [email protected]

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