RALEIGH — A Senate bill amending Charter School Review Board laws that passed both chambers of the General Assembly has been vetoed by Gov. Josh Stein.
“Senate Bill 254 is an unconstitutional infringement on the authority of the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction,” Stein wrote in his veto message. “Additionally, it weakens accountability of charter schools when every North Carolina student deserves excellent public schools, whether traditional or charter.”
Senate Bill 254 would clarify that rules or policies adopted by the N.C. State Board of Education (NCBOE) must first be approved by the Charter School Review Board (CSRB). In recent years, the NCBOE has attempted to retain control over charters despite legislation making the CSRB the approval entity for those schools.
Among the key provisions, the CSRB is authorized to conduct hearings around the review of financial assistance for charters, to employ legal counsel as needed without having to obtain permission or approval, and grants oversight to the CSRB of the executive director for the Department of Public Instruction’s Office of Charter Schools.
Additionally, the CRSB would notify the NCBOE when a charter fails fiscal management standards. Currently, the state superintendent has that responsibility.
One of the first to push back on Stein’s veto was N.C. State Treasurer Brad Briner.
As a member of the State Board of Education, I have been consistently appalled at the opposition to school choice and charter schools that has been apparent since my first meeting in January,” Briner said in a statement on X. “Families need to be able to choose an education that best meets their child’s needs, and an independent Charter School Review Board is best equipped to oversee these schools. I hope the legislature will override the Governor’s veto of SB254.”
An override may be possible as seven House Democrats voted to pass the bill and only one sticking to their vote is needed for a successful override.
NCBOE Chair Eric Davis and N.C. State Superintendent Mo Green issued a joint statement on June 18 about their concerns over “constitutional authority” issues in the latest versions of House Bill 832 and Senate Bill 254. Yesterday, Davis and Green issued a second statement statement that said they appreciated Stein’s veto of “this unconstitutional bill.”
Dave Machado, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools, noted “more than 150,000 North Carolina families” rely on public charter schools, and that “the success of public charter schools hinges on their flexibility and autonomy.”
Machado also addressed the constitutionality issue in his statement.
“The legislature rightly placed at the front line of charter school regulation and oversight a body of public charter school experts insulated from political maneuverings that have hamstrung the charter school sector in other states,” Machado said. “The Constitution clearly authorizes the legislature to do this. The operative words are literally, ‘subject to laws enacted by the General Assembly’.”
On June 25, the Senate replaced the original bill, which was broader in scope, with a committee substitute focused on operational support for the CSRB. That chamber voted that same day to pass the bill down party lines by a vote of 26-20. The House then passed the committee substitute with bipartisan support by a vote of 73-36.
Of note, the committee substitute added $82,100 per fiscal year for 2025-2027 to fund the CSRB’s operations, including meeting expenses, travel reimbursement and legal services, with exemptions from certain approval requirements.
Timely funding transfers from districts have been an ongoing issue for some charter schools, and the bill includes provisions addressing the topic.
Under the bill, standardizing per-pupil transfer requests from the district the charter is in and student enrollment verification would be required. In the same vein, districts and charters would have to set up a formal process for transferring local funds, requiring electronic transfers “to the extent practicable.”
