Last week, the Department of Public Instruction released public school growth funding allotments for the 2025-26 academic year. Charter schools should have received an allotment covering their full enrollment growth.
The Coalition is very pleased about this development, especially as it is the direct result of our advocacy efforts. In 2024, the Coalition worked to secure charter enrollment growth funding in a contingency reserve, on a recurrent basis. This was a huge legislative win.
A brief history follows below, especially for school leaders who may not be familiar with Coalition advocacy efforts and timeline in this area.
History of House Bill 10 and Coalition Advocacy
In Summer 2024, it became clear that the legislature was unlikely to pass a budget. While this had financial implications for numerous things, the Coalition was particularly concerned about public charter schools with enrollment growth. These schools, we knew–along with district schools–would not be funded for growth without a state budget, given the shift to a “funding in arrears” model.
Coalition leadership and lobbyists moved quickly to reach out to lawmakers, engaging them in a concerted push to pass legislation with growth funding as a line item. Growth funding was first placed in a bill, House Bill 10, on September 9, 2024. Lawmakers passed House Bill 10 quickly, sending it to Governor Cooper on September 11. However, he vetoed the bill on September 20, objecting to another bill provision. In November 2024, the House and Senate voted to override his veto, and the bill became law.
View the 2024 statement from the Coalition, thanking lawmakers for enacting House Bill 10 into law. Within three weeks of lawmakers’ vote to override the Governor’s veto of House Bill 10 in 2024, DPI had released growth funding for charter schools. Read more about our advocacy in this Coalition blog post or view House Bill 10/Session Law 2024-55.
We are pleased enrollment growth funding has been released to charter schools again this year! This kind of advocacy represents exactly why the Coalition exists, as we work to protect and promote public charter schools in North Carolina.
