Bill > S689

This bill proposes several significant changes to charter school governance and operations in North Carolina. The legislation significantly empowers the Charter Schools Review Board by giving it approval authority over all state rules related to charter schools, allowing it to hire its own legal counsel, and granting it the ability to review federal funding decisions. The bill exempts charter schools from reporting student class rank on transcripts and allows them to develop their own teacher evaluation processes that align with state standards. Low-performing charter schools will now only need to report improvement plans to the Review Board, rather than to other educational entities. The bill also creates an expedited application process for remote charter academies with 250 or more students and mandates that remote charter academies receive separate performance grades from their in-person counterparts. Additionally, the bill shifts administrative oversight of charter schools from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Charter Schools Review Board, giving the Review Board more direct control over charter school operations, funding, and accountability. The changes will take effect for the 2025-2026 school year and aim to provide charter schools with more flexibility while maintaining educational standards and performance accountability.

https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/S689