NC public education funding rises, enrollment declines

State funding for public schools is increasing in North Carolina, even as state enrollment declines, according to a Carolina Journal comparison of data from the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

The data, drawn from DPI’s 2025 and 2026 “Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget” reports, show that total state funding for public education increased from $12.60 billion in 2024-25 to $12.75 billion in 2025-26. That $150 million bump in state appropriations occurred even as the student population saw a decline of 4,674 students, around a 0.30% drop.

The longer-term trendline also shows that the per-pupil cost for each public school student in North Carolina is increasing. For the 2018-19 school year, total spending of $10.19 billion for 1,556,141 students amounted to approximately $6,548 per student. By the 2025-26 school year, the student population shrank to 1,533,889 while spending stood at $12.75 billion. This pushed the per-pupil cost to an estimated $8,312, an increase of nearly 27% per student over seven years.

That decline in enrollment mirrors national trends that are influenced by factors such as lower birth rates and families increasingly choosing school choice alternatives, such as charter, private, and homeschools.

According to the new data from DPI, classroom teaching positions remained mostly static during between the current school year and last — increasing by 97 positions, or around 0.10% — while admin roles dropped by 46 positions, or a 0.50% dip.

This recent reduction in administrative staff — which in 2025-26 totaled 4,321 school building administrators, including principals and assistant principals, and 1,939 central office administrators statewide — stands in contrast to the decades-long pattern.

An analysis spanning fiscal years 2004-2005 to 2022-2023 by Brian Balfour, senior vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation, revealed a significant growth in administrative positions. Over those two decades, while statewide enrollment increased by 2.5% (from 1,460,934 in 2004-05 to 1,539,949 in 2022-23) and full-time teachers by 2.2%, administrative roles surged. Positions for official administrators and managers jumped by 45%, and consultants and supervisors saw an even more dramatic 107% increase.

“It’s good see the lengthy and significant rise in public school administrators paused at least for this year,” Balfour told Carolina Journal. “The natural tendency for government programs is to assert its growth largely through rapid increases in administrators and bureaucrats. Government schools are no exception. The decline in public school enrollment is not surprising. It continues a trend that became supercharged after COVID in which district schools have seen flat or declining enrollment while charter, private, and home schools have seen significant upticks. Parents are exercising choice for their children and state legislators should meet that growing demand by fully funding the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program.”

Lawmakers in Raleigh have recently taken note as well. Last year, the NC House passed a bill that would require local school boards to publish detailed employment and salary data for central office employees. The measure was not brought up for a vote in the Senate.

The new DPI data also illustrates how state funds are allocated. For 2024-25, 93% of all state expenditures for public education went to salaries and benefits. For 2025-26, instructional personnel and related services accounted for nearly 60% — or $7.65 billion — of the total state public school fund requirements, with weighted categorical programs comprising another 31.11%, or $3.97 billion.

“NC public education funding rises, enrollment declines” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.