NC Senate advances bill to revamp teacher licensure

A North Carolina Senate committee on April 29 approved legislation that would remove or loosen four barriers in the teacher licensure pipeline, including scrapping a basic-skills exam currently required to enter teacher preparation programs.

The Senate Education/Higher Education Committee voted to move forward Senate Bill 840, Teacher Licensure Modifications, sending it next to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The bill repeals the requirement that prospective teachers pass the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators before admission to an Educator Preparation Program. The Praxis Core is an assessment of basic skills in reading, writing, and math.

Newly licensed teachers would also gain more flexibility on the timing of their licensure exam. The bill removes a requirement that they sit for the test at least once during their first year of teaching, while leaving in place the existing deadline to pass it by the end of their third year.

Primary sponsor state Sen. Tom McInnis, R-Moore, told the committee the testing requirements have become a “front-end barrier” that screens out candidates who could succeed in a classroom.

“There is no excuse to have a permanent sub in any classroom in North Carolina whose only qualification is to have a heartbeat in their chest,” he said.

A third change in the measure streamlines the path for out-of-state teachers. Under the bill, the State Board of Education must grant a Continuing Professional License to teachers from states with “substantially similar” licensure requirements who have at least three years of teaching experience and are in good standing.

Committee members also adopted an amendment from McInnis that creates a pathway to a Continuing Professional License for teachers currently on a limited license. These teachers could earn permanent licensure if their growth-score data shows strong classroom performance for at least two of the most recent years.

“Several years ago, we brought forward the opportunity for someone to get a limited license who is having problems taking the test, and that limited license had to be based on their performance in the classroom,” McInnis told the committee. “As time went on, we have found that we have kept some outstanding teachers.”

McInnis added that the existing limited-license framework, which requires teachers to seek reapproval from their principal and superintendent every three years, has become unwieldy.

“It is a cumbersome process to maintain the limited license,” he said. “This just gives us those high performance teachers the ability to get a continuing license.”

State Sen. Gladys Robinson, D-Guilford, asked whether the limited-license framework would still hold teachers accountable for classroom growth.

McInnis confirmed limited-license teachers must reapply every three years and complete continuing education requirements, “so if they don’t have performance in the classroom, they’re not staying there; they’re out the door.”

The bill comes as North Carolina’s teacher attrition rate ticked up slightly to 10.11% in the 2024-25 school year, from 9.88% the year before, according to Department of Public Instruction (DPI) data presented to the State Board of Education in February. Tom Tomberlin — DPI’s senior director of educator preparation, licensure, and performance — characterized the uptick as “wobble changes” rather than a meaningful trend.

Statewide teacher vacancy rates dipped to 7.4% in 2024-25, down from 7.6% the previous year. But Tomberlin noted the strict vacancy rate, counting only positions with no educator filling them, sits at “closer to 1.2%.” That represents about 1,000 classrooms across the state without a permanent, licensed teacher.

“NC Senate advances bill to revamp teacher licensure” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.