The budget adjustments portion of the bill addresses K-12 education, including providing $95 million for an ADM contingency reserve – a high priority item that the NCSBA Governmental Relations team has been working on. Starting in the 2024-25 fiscal year, local school districts receive ADM funding in arrears (per the 2023 State Budget). Meaning, instead of using projections, DPI now uses the previous year’s ADM as the baseline for funding. However, there is no mechanism in place to provide additional funding to growing districts. The contingency reserve in HB 10 fixes that problem.

HB 10 also expands the Opportunity Scholarship program to every student in the state regardless of household income. The bill provides an additional $463 million dollars for this school year. The cost to NC taxpayers will be more than $7 billion dollars over the next 10 years.

After passing both chambers, HB 10 was sent by special message to the Governor and received in the same day. Governor Cooper has 10 days to sign or veto the bill. If he doesn’t do either, the bill becomes law.

The next opportunity for state legislators to reconvene is for a one-day session on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, followed by a four-day session beginning on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. However, just because the General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on those dates does not necessarily mean that they will return as a full body – it simply provides the option for them to do so.

While there is no Federal Education Report to provide this week, NCSBA stayed busy by bringing the thrill to Capitol Hill.

Congress returned from its August recess on Tuesday and school board members from across North Carolina were there to greet lawmakers on their first day back. Our member-led delegation was attending the Consortium of State School Board Associations (COSSBA) Federal Advocacy Conference. COSSBA has 26 member state associations working to affect public education policy at the federal level.

“It’s important for members of Congress to hear directly from our local school board members across the state,” said NCSBA President Jennifer Thompson. “Congress controls hundreds of millions of dollars in education spending. As advocates for public education, we must ensure that those in power are aware of the greatest needs in our communities to allow those funds to be allocated appropriately.”

Just as NCSBA enacts a state agenda for the NC General Assembly on a biennial basis, COSSBA similarly enacts a federal agenda each year. This year’s federal agenda includes the following topic areas:

• Mental Health Supports for K-12 Education
• Increased Funding for K-12 Education
• Teacher and Principal Training and Recruitment: Title II, Part A
• Broadband, Connectivity, Cybersecurity and E-Rate
• Child Nutrition Programs
• Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

For more information on each topic area, click here.

NCSBA Executive Director Leanne Winner sits on the COSSBA Government Affairs Committee and serves as our representative voice. “One of President Thompson’s key areas of focus is mental health services for students. We were fortunate to add mental health supports to the federal agenda this year,” noted Winner.

North Carolina attendees to the Federal Advocacy Conference hailed from Cherokee Central Schools, Caldwell County Schools, Lexington City Schools, and Harnett County Schools. They attended meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress from their home districts, as well as Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-5^th), Chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. School board members also met with the education staff for both US Senators Ted Budd (R-NC) and Thom Tillis (R-NC).

“These meetings with Congress enable us to provide local examples and data regarding the policy items on our federal agenda,” added President Thompson. “When they can hear about the local needs directly, it makes our advocacy even stronger. It is a vital part of our job as leaders in public education to lobby for the best interests of our local school districts and to ensure the best interest of North Carolina’s most precious resource, our children.”

If you have any interest in attending next year’s Federal Advocacy Conference, save the date for September 7-9, 2025!

State News
EdNC: General Assembly passes mini budget with funds for vouchers, K-12 and community college enrollment
WRAL: Cellphones in NC schools: Curbing distractions will require many solutions, experts say at forum
News & Observer: NC has fewer teacher vacancies this school year. But why are so many not licensed?
WRAL: Future Teachers Program seeks to attract more educators to the field
EdNC: New report outlines improvement plans for special education in North Carolina
WFAE: Politically connected charter school gets state review and is turned down to open

National News
Associated Press: Court won’t allow public money to be spent on private schools in South Carolina