NCATA: Legislative Budget Update! July 2, 2019

Legislative Update from Bryan Holloway: July 1,2019

Budget Update

The NC General Assembly has finished the budget process by passing the compromise budget.

The great news for NCATA is that we were successful with our entire agenda. We got two new coordinator positions at NC State University in the budget and $500,000.00 for the FFA camp at White Lake.

Click here for access to the entire budget document.

NCATA items can be found in the budget Money Report (see link). It includes a Table of Contents. Portions which are relevant to NCATA members can be found in B 50 (pg. 76) and H 6 (pg. 563).

As expected, the governor did veto the budget. However, the new wrinkle is that Republicans have a possibility of overriding the budget because of unexpected Democratic votes for the budget. The House fell a few votes short of the number needed to override, but it will be interesting to see if they can close the gap before the vote will occur. There is basically no time-limit to hold the override vote.

The good news is that I think they will eventually work out something, and your agenda items will become law. The contentious issues at the present are Medicaid expansion, teacher pay, and the school bond as opposed to the pay-as-you-go plan. We will keep you posted on the Governor’s veto as the situation plays out.

Below is a review of the rest of the budget pertaining to education.

57 percent of the state budget (or roughly $14.2 billion dollars) is allocated toward education. 

Veteran teachers with 16-20 years of experience will receive a $500 raise for the 2019-2020 school year and another $500 raise for 2020-2021 calendar. Those teachers with 21 to 24 years of service will receive $1,500 in the first year of the biennium and $500 in the second year. Finally, teachers with 25 years of service will get a $600 raise in the first year of the budget and an additional $500 in the second year. In addition, bonus pay of $500 will be provided in October of each budget year for those teachers with 25 or more years of experience.

Teachers in years 1 through 15 will see their scheduled “step” increase with the addition of a $1000 pay increase for each year. However, starting salaries will remain at $35,000.

The Salary Schedule can be found on page 75 of the State Budget (see link). (pgs. 75-77)

Non-certified school employees are scheduled to see a 1 percent raise in each year of the 2-year budget.

Principal and Assistant Principal pay will increase 6.2 percent during the 2-year budget plan. In addition, monies are allocated for Principal bonuses based on school performance. There is also funding for Principal recruitment.

For retirees, the budget allocates a 0.5 percent cost of living adjustment.

The budget allocates funds to eligible teachers in the amount of $145.00, for each year of the budget, to be spent on classroom supplies. Individual LEAs wills will receive an allocation for supplies as well.

The budget also provided language that makes permanent the 15-point scale for school performance grades, preventing the scale from dropping to the 10-point scale.

For K-12 capital improvement and construction, the budget provides 4.4 billion over the next decade for LEAs to address school repairs and target future building projects.

Regarding the Cooperative Innovative High School (including early college high schools), the funding was restored, and those programs will continue as before. The Senate plan had initially pulled the supplemental funding, but in the compromise, the program was spared.

Click here for access to the entire budget document.

NCATA items can be found in the budget Money Report (see link). It includes a Table of Contents. Portions which are relevant to NCATA members can be found in B 50 (pg. 76) and H 6 (pg. 563).

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Other bills which passed and have been sent to the Governor

SB 219  An Act to Modify Teacher Licensure Requirements

This bill would offer additional flexibility for LEAs to address key shortages of teachers by offering limited provisional licensure paths.

HB 924  Teacher Contract Changes

This bill contains the language for the new Literacy and Personal Finance course requirements for high schools.