GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2025

H                                                                                                                                                    1

HOUSE BILL 445

Short Title:      Fairness & Transparency in Education Salaries.		(Public)
Sponsors:	Representatives von Haefen, Quick, Ball, and Prather (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to:	Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

March 20, 2025

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to reinstate education‑based salary supplements for TEACHERS AND INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL, including school social workers, and to require local boards of education to publicize salary schedules for occupational therapists and physical therapists.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

part i. reinstate education‑based salary supplements for teachers and instructional support personnel, including school social workers

SECTION 1.(a)  G.S. 115C‑302.10 is repealed.

SECTION 1.(b)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year, State Board of Education policy TCP‑A‑006, as it was in effect on June 30, 2013, shall be used to determine (i) whether teachers and instructional support personnel, including school social workers, are paid on the "M" salary schedule and (ii) whether they receive a salary supplement for academic preparation at the six‑year or doctoral degree level.

SECTION 1.(c)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of eight million dollars ($8,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year to reinstate education‑based salary supplements for teachers and instructional support personnel, including school social workers, in accordance with this section.

part ii. publicize minimum salary schedules for occupational therapists and physical therapists

SECTION 2. G.S. 115C‑316(b1) reads as rewritten:

"(b1)    Every local board of education shall adopt a minimum salary schedule for occupational therapists and physical therapists employed in full‑time, permanent positions. The minimum salary schedule shall apply to positions paid from State, local, or federal funds. In accordance with the noncertified salary grades and ranges adopted by the State Board of Education, the minimum salary schedule shall differentiate salaries based on years of experience, but experience‑based intervals shall be no greater than five years. Local boards of education may compensate occupational therapists and physical therapists above the minimum salary schedule provided all State‑funded salaries are within the noncertified salary grades and ranges adopted by the State Board of Education. No later than October 15 of each year, every local board of education shall publish on its website the salary schedule adopted for occupational therapists and physical therapists pursuant to this subsection for that school year."

part iii. effective date

SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2025.