2024 State Budget Proposal Analysis

Budget Status

According to the latest General Fund Revenue Forecast, North Carolina has an estimated $987 million revenue surplus for the 2024-25 fiscal year. At this time, the North Carolina House and Senate have each passed their own updated budget bills for the second year of the 2023-25 biennium. Leaders from both chambers of the General Assembly have indicated that they do not intend to entertain the budget of the other, and will likely not revisit talks on the subject until September.  Governor Roy Cooper’s proposed budget was released earlier this year. If negotiations remain at an impasse, the budget passed last year for the biennium will remain in place, with no new money for public schools beyond what was already approved. Read our analysis of last year’s budget here.

As we approach the 2024-25 school year, districts yet again find themselves unsure of their budget reality. The salaries of public school educators, who comprise the largest part of the workforce in more than a third of North Carolina counties, remain in limbo. The Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan, which provides a court-ordered, evidence-based roadmap to fully and equitably fund our schools,  remains significantly underfunded. At the same time, districts are facing the impending ESSER funding cliff. The Public School Forum’s Top Education Issues offer evidence-based recommendations for policymakers to increase much-needed resources and supports for our students over the biennium.

North Carolina ranks 38th nationally in teacher pay and 48th in per-student  funding. Yet in the face of this uncertainty and great need for our local public schools, the North Carolina House and Senate have instead both proposed budgets that allocate significant additional funding toward taxpayer-funded private school vouchers for the upcoming year. Budgets are a reflection of values and priorities, and we urge our policymakers to refocus on investing in the futures of the 85% of North Carolina children who attend local public schools, rather than giving taxpayer money to private and religious schools that do not have to report what they teach or how their students perform and practice discriminatory admissions practices.

This analysis addresses the following budget components:

• Vouchers
• Educator Compensation
• Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Diversity
• Mental Health and School Safety

Both the House and the Senate budgets also include funding increases for private school vouchers over the next decade. Through 2032-33, the House and Senate would appropriate $5.7 billion and $7 billion to tax-payer funded vouchers, respectively. 

The Governor’s budget proposal would instead freeze Opportunity Scholarship funding at the 23-24 levels and offer no new awards for the upcoming school year, instead allocating more funds for local public schools and early childhood education. Moreover, the Governor’s budget would require increased accountability for non-public schools that receive voucher funds and would decrease future appropriations over the next decade.

Educator Compensation

North Carolina ranks 38th in the country in average teacher pay with an estimated average salary of $56,559 including local salary supplements, master’s pay for those eligible, bonuses, and more. Average teacher pay in our state falls about $13,000 below the national average. North Carolina ranks 42nd in beginning teacher pay with an average starting salary of $40,136, falling more than $4,000 below the national average. While pay is not the only factor impacting our ability to recruit and retain effective educators, we certainly will not address the teacher pipeline challenges facing our state without paying teachers a competitive wage. 

The Governor’s budget for the second year of the biennium proposed an average teacher pay increase of 8.5%, which would raise North Carolina’s beginning teacher pay to become the highest in the Southeast. The Governor also proposed the restoration of master’s pay for teachers and an additional $1.76 million to expand the Advanced Teaching Roles program. Under the Governor’s plan, principals would receive a 6% salary increase. 

Under the House budget, average teacher salaries for FY 2024-25 would increase from the already passed 3% average raises to 4.4%, with higher increases for beginning teachers. Beginning teacher pay would start at $44,000. The House budget also includes funding for an additional 1% raise for principals, non-certified staff, and DPI employees and would restore master’s pay. 

The Senate budget proposal includes no additional raises for teachers or principals on top of the already agreed-upon 3 percent increases passed in 2023 and would not restore master’s pay. The Senate did propose additional funds for the Advanced Teaching Roles program.

Educator Recruitment, Retention and Diversity

Educator vacancies and attrition remain key issues for districts across the state as we head toward a new school year. With this in mind, the Governor’s budget contains a comprehensive set of actions to better recruit and retain a diverse teaching workforce. Increased funding for the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program would provide support for almost 500 additional candidates pursuing a teaching career in any subject at any institution with an approved Education Preparation Program. Additionally, teachers pursuing their National Boards from high-need and low-performing schools would have priority in obtaining funds to cover the cost of their certification process. 

By contrast, no additional funds for either of these teacher recruitment and retention efforts were included in the House or Senate budgets. However, each of the budgets did contain bright spots: an amendment to the House budget would eliminate the Praxis Core as a requirement for entry into Education Preparation Programs, removing an unnecessary barrier for candidates, and the Senate budget contained expanded flexibility and funding for Advanced Teaching Roles.

Mental Health and School Safety

The Governor’s budget proposes allocating funding for approximately 575 new school-based health personnel positions (including counselors, nurses, social workers, and school psychologists). Neither the House or Senate budgets propose additional funding for these roles. 

The House budget proposes significant administrative changes to existing mental health and school safety initiatives. The House budget recommends that the Center for Safer Schools and the Task Force for Safer Schools, currently housed under the Department of Public Instruction, be transitioned to the State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI). The SBI would not only be responsible for funding and selecting the Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools, but also maintaining a partnership with the NCDPI and the General Assembly. The Center for Safer Schools would be responsible for overseeing the School Safety Grants Program which includes funding for School Resources Officers, community based crisis respite services, training, and school safety equipment.