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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina Establishes 2025-2027 Teacher Performance and Growth Bonus Program
Last action · March 25, 2025: Ref to the Com on Education - K-12, if favorable, Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Frances Jackson and 23 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina reauthorizes and revises teacher performance bonuses for the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium, allowing teachers who transfer due to official military orders to remain eligible while setting specific award amounts and eligibility criteria based on advanced courses, career and technical education, and student growth scores.
Qualifying public school teachers across North Carolina stand to receive performance and growth bonuses funded through state appropriations, provided they meet specific student achievement metrics or military relocation exceptions by January of 2026 and 2027.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Teachers
Eligible teachers meeting performance, growth, advanced course, or career and technical education criteria receive additional bonus pay funded by the state.
Qualifying public school units
Local school administrative units, charter schools, regional schools, and UNC-operated elementary or secondary schools administer bonus information and military transfer notices.
State Board of Education
The Board must establish the consolidated bonus program, study its effects, and report findings annually to legislative committees.
Key Facts
- The State Board of Education must establish a consolidated teacher bonus program for the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium to reward teacher performance and encourage student learning.
- Bonus pay is administered to qualifying teachers whose salaries are supported from State funds in January of 2026 and 2027 based on data from the preceding school years.
- Teachers who leave employment due to the transfer or pending transfer of a spouse under an official military order remain eligible for a bonus if they provide notice and an updated mailing address by January 1.
- Qualifying advanced course teachers receive a $50 bonus for each student who scores 3 or higher on an AP exam, 4 or higher on an IB exam, or 'E' or higher on a Cambridge AICE exam.
Show all 12 facts
- Career and technical education (CTE) teachers receive $25 or $50 bonuses per student depending on the value ranking of the attained industry certification or credential.
- The sum of $5,000,000 is allocated for statewide growth bonuses for top-ranking third-grade reading teachers, distributed equally among qualifying teachers.
- A bonus of $2,000 is awarded to each qualifying teacher who ranks in the top 25% for fourth or fifth grade reading student growth or fourth through eighth grade mathematics student growth statewide.
- The sum of $5,000,000 is allocated for local growth bonuses, divided proportionally based on average daily membership in third grade for each local school administrative unit.
- Bonus funds awarded under subsection (c), subsection (d), subdivision (1) of subsection (f), and subdivision (1) of subsection (g) shall not exceed $3,500 per subsection or subdivision in any given school year.
- Bonuses awarded under this section are in addition to regular wages and are not considered compensation under the Retirement System for Teachers and State Employees.
- The State Board of Education must report study findings and bonus amounts awarded to legislative leaders and oversight committees by March 15 of each year.
- This act becomes effective July 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which teachers are eligible for the advanced course bonuses?
What happens if a teacher must relocate due to a spouse's military orders?
Do these bonus payments count toward state retirement calculations?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Mar 25, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Education - K-12, if favorable, Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs, if favorable, Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Mar 25, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Mar 24, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Show 19 more sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Military Relocation Protection
The bill explicitly expands bonus eligibility to teachers who must leave employment due to the transfer of a spouse under official military orders.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy25Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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