Restore Educator Longevity.

2025-2026 Session Introduced by Val Applewhite and 11 co-sponsors

SB 433 restores annual longevity payments for NC public school staff in 2025–26, funded with a $140.3 million recurring appropriation.

Passed 1st Reading

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Main purpose

SB 433 restores annual longevity payments for North Carolina public school educators for the 2025–2026 fiscal year and provides the state appropriation to fund those payments. The bill repeals a prior statutory provision that suspended or limited longevity pay and sets specific longevity rates for teachers and instructional support personnel for 2025–26. It also aligns principals’ and assistant principals’ longevity with the State Human Resources Act.

Key provisions

Repeal: Section 9.1(d) of S.L. 2014‑100 is repealed (removing the prior suspension/limitation referenced in that provision).

Longevity rates for 2025–2026 (teachers and instructional support personnel), paid as a lump sum once per year:

10–14 years of State service: 1.50% of base salary
15–19 years of State service: 2.25% of base salary
20–24 years of State service: 3.25% of base salary
25+ years of State service: 4.50% of base salary

Principals and assistant principals: longevity payments for 2025–2026 are to be provided “as provided for State employees under the North Carolina Human Resources Act” (i.e., their longevity treatment follows State HR rules).

Appropriation: $140,300,000 (recurring) is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction for FY 2025–2026 to fund the restored longevity payments.

Effective date: July 1, 2025.

Who is affected

Directly affected: public school teachers and instructional support personnel in North Carolina who meet the specified years-of-service thresholds; principals and assistant principals (subject to State HR Act provisions).

Administrative entities: State Department of Public Instruction (administers the funds/payments); State budget officials (provide appropriation).

Local school units: will receive state funding to cover the specified longevity payments, but will need to implement payroll adjustments to issue the lump-sum payments.

Fiscal and procedural notes

Fiscal impact: the bill includes a recurring General Fund appropriation of $140.3 million for 2025–26 to restore longevity payments. Because the appropriation is recurring, the funding signal may imply ongoing budgetary impact beyond the single fiscal year stated in the rate provisions.

Implementation: payments are to be made as a lump sum once per year. The bill sets the 2025–26 rates explicitly; subsequent years would depend on future legislation or continuing provisions of State HR law.

Timeline: introduced Feb 18, 2025 (per bill header); effective July 1, 2025 if enacted.

Practical effect

SB 433 restores state-funded longevity supplements that increase annual compensation for eligible educators based on years of State service. The restoration is intended to compensate experienced educators and may affect retention/total compensation calculations; it also increases recurring State personnel costs by the appropriation amount unless changed in later budgets.

Bill