NC House committee passes amendment to elect State Board of Education

The North Carolina House Education Committee on May 19 advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to make the elected superintendent of public instruction the chair of the State Board of Education and allow voters — rather than the governor — to choose most of the board’s members.

House Bill 144, Elect SBE/Superintendent as SBE Chair, passed the committee in a mixed voice vote. If both chambers of the General Assembly approve the measure, voters would decide the question on the November 2026 ballot.

Currently, the state board consists of 11 members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly, along with the lieutenant governor and the state treasurer as ex officio members. The superintendent serves as a non-voting secretary. 

Under HB 144, the superintendent would become voting chair, and the appointed seats would be replaced by members elected from districts drawn by the legislature equal in number to the state’s US House delegation, currently 14.

The amendment is the latest salvo in an ongoing conflict between the GOP-controlled General Assembly and the Democrat-led state board. House Republicans have publicly criticized the board’s attendance policy, pressed DPI over its framing of student achievement data, and signaled skepticism of a multi-indicator A–F school grading overhaul the board is developing for the long session.

“Most people voting for the superintendent currently probably think in terms of him or her being the leader of education policy, whereas structurally he’s more of a person carrying out the administration and operations,” said state Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, the lead sponsor on the bill.

Blackwell pointed to outcomes data to argue the current structure is not working. Only about a third of high school juniors meet the college-ready benchmark for ACT testing, and barely a third attain the career-ready benchmark, Blackwell said. He also referenced the state Supreme Court ruling in favor of then-Superintendent June Atkinson over Gov. Bev Perdue’s effort to shift powers to the state board chair, saying HB 144 would “obviate that problem.”

In addition to the broader changes, the amendment would also change the state constitution to let bills redrawing state board districts pass on three readings — the same treatment given to legislative and congressional redistricting maps, which bypass the governor’s veto.

Democrats on the committee pushed back. State Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, offered a failed amendment that would have moved district-drawing duties from the General Assembly to an independent redistricting commission. Morey cited primary turnout under 20%, the costs of partisan campaigns, and the fact that the governor is already “mandated to select people from across the state” with a range of expertise.

“It is not concentrated; he has parameters; it has been well represented,” Morey said of the current process. “We will not have the results we want; we will not have the expertise we want. It will become just much more of a political animal.”

State Rep. Laura Budd, D-Mecklenburg, pressed Blackwell on whether tying state board districts to legislative maps would put partisanship at the center of education policy.

“Given that those maps are drawn with surgical precision to maintain the political power of the Republican party, aren’t you in fact at that point making politics … front and center in the classroom?” Budd asked. 

State Rep. David Willis, R-Union, presiding as chair and a primary sponsor of the bill, twice ruled the line of questioning not germane.

State Rep. Mike Schietzelt, R-Wake, defended the proposal as a transparency measure, arguing the current process is in fact decided by a smaller group than an election would involve.

“Right now this decision is made by an even smaller number of people. It’s the governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate,” he said. The bill would “increase transparency and knowledge about our State Board of Education’s role.”

Blackwell brought a similar measure, House Bill 1173, in 2022. That bill cleared two House committees but did not become law.

Constitutional amendments require a three-fifths majority in both chambers before going to voters. If approved in November 2026, the new structure would take effect Jan. 1, 2028, applying to state board terms beginning Jan. 1, 2029.

“NC House committee passes amendment to elect State Board of Education” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.