House Bill 1178, titled the NC Teacher Pay Competitiveness Act, would create a new statutory teacher salary schedule and a dedicated Teacher Salary Reserve to fund permanent pay increases for public school teachers beginning in the 2026-2027 school year. The bill sets specific monthly salary amounts by years of experience for the first year, then requires annual increases of 3.67% from 2027-2028 through 2032-2033, and thereafter ties increases to the Employment Cost Index for elementary and secondary school workers. It also preserves and expands salary supplements for certain categories of educators, including NBPTS-certified teachers, teachers with advanced licensure, school nurses, counselors, psychologists, speech pathologists, and audiologists, and requires annual reporting by the Department of Public Instruction on the salary schedule.
The bill would appropriate substantial recurring General Fund amounts to the Teacher Salary Reserve over multiple fiscal years, starting at $825.1 million in 2026-2027 and increasing each year through 2032-2033, with continued annual growth afterward. It directs the Director of the Budget to include those amounts in the base budget, making the teacher pay increases a long-term statutory commitment rather than a one-year budget item. The bill also treats instructional support personnel as teachers for purposes of the salary schedule, broadening the group affected by the pay changes.
In addition to teacher pay, the bill revises the Opportunity Scholarship program, which funds private school vouchers. It narrows and reorganizes eligibility rules, changes the priority order for awarding grants, and modifies the scholarship amount structure by income level and grade. It also reduces the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve by cutting future appropriations and by reducing carryforward and recurring funds, while allowing students who received scholarships in 2026-2027 to continue receiving them in 2027-2028 at the same amount.
The bill’s impact on state law would be significant: it adds new teacher salary statutes, creates a new reserve fund mechanism, changes how teacher compensation is funded and escalated over time, and amends the state’s private school scholarship statutes to reduce funding and tighten eligibility. It would affect public school teachers, instructional support personnel, school nurses, counselors, related service providers, local school systems, charter schools, and families participating in the Opportunity Scholarship program. It also imposes new reporting and nonsupplant requirements on local school units receiving supplemental compensation funds.
No committee debate or recorded votes are provided, but the bill text itself shows a clear policy preference for increasing public school teacher compensation while reducing support for private school vouchers. The stated findings and structure suggest strong support for teacher pay competitiveness and skepticism toward automatic voucher growth. Likely points of contention include the large fiscal commitment required for the teacher salary reserve, the reduction in Opportunity Scholarship funding, the redistribution of education dollars from private-school subsidies to public-school compensation, and the bill’s use of statutory appropriations to lock in future spending commitments.
HB1178 would amend Chapter 115C to establish a new statewide teacher salary schedule, create a Teacher Salary Reserve with multi-year appropriations, and require annual salary increases for teachers and certain related school personnel. It would also revise Opportunity Scholarship eligibility and funding provisions in Article 39, reducing reserve amounts, changing award priorities, and limiting future voucher growth. The bill would therefore affect state budget law, public school compensation statutes, and private school scholarship administration, with direct consequences for teachers, instructional support staff, local school systems, charter schools, and scholarship recipients.
The bill’s stated purpose and structure indicate strong support among its sponsors for raising public school teacher pay and making those increases durable across budget cycles. The findings criticize stagnant teacher salaries and the automatic growth of Opportunity Scholarship funding, suggesting the bill is framed as a corrective measure to prioritize public education. Because no committee transcript or vote record is provided, there is no documented floor or committee sentiment, but the text itself reflects a clear pro-teacher, anti-expansion-of-vouchers policy stance.
The main points of contention are likely to be fiscal cost, the size and permanence of the proposed teacher pay commitments, and the reduction in Opportunity Scholarship funding. Supporters of public school investment would likely favor the teacher raises and reserve funding, while supporters of school choice and private school scholarships would likely oppose the cuts and tighter eligibility rules. Local school systems and charter schools may also focus on the new supplemental funding formula, nonsupplant rules, and reporting requirements, while budget writers may object to the bill’s attempt to statutorily lock in future appropriations.