RALEIGH — In 2025, North Carolina’s K-12 education saw a new state superintendent, decreases in teacher attrition, small decreases in school crime and the naming of various educators of the year.
The year kicked off with a new state superintendent, Democrat Mo Green, who rolled out his five-year strategic plan in mid-August. The plan has eight pillars centered on student achievement and operational excellence, as well as a primary objective of increasing public K-12 schools’ share of student enrollment from the current rate of 84% to 89% by 2030. It also calls for the four-year graduation rate to increase from 86.9% to 92% and bumping up ACT composite scores from 18.5 to 20.
Green’s plan also seeks to raise the state’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores — an item that needs attention given the 2024 NAEP scores in reading and math showed U.S. students were still losing ground following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average national NAEP math score for eighth grade students remained unchanged from 2022, and reading scores fell 2 points in fourth and eighth grade. North Carolina was among 19 states scoring significantly higher than the rest of the nation for math scores that were “at or above proficient,” and reading scores were not statistically different from 2024.
State level testing saw some small gains, school growth remained largely unchanged, and the graduation rate rose to 87.7%, up 0.7% from 2023-24. Despite small gains in various grade levels, this year’s testing report found grades 3-8 failed to meet target grade level proficiency goals in reading and math.
The State Board of Education produced a legislative agenda in January that included raising teacher and principal pay, additional pay for teachers who earn master’s degrees, the need for expanded professional development, stronger mental health support systems and a comprehensive mentoring program for teacher retention.
Crime, teacher attrition
Crime and violent incidents decreased by 7.7% over the previous year, and 77% of schools reported five or fewer incidents, according to an annual report on the state’s public schools. The top two reportable crimes were possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm, followed by assault on school personnel. The year-to-year crime rate dropped less than 1% between 2022-23 and 2023-24, going from 15.10 to 14.19.
Teacher attrition decreased during the 2023-24 school year. The attrition rate dropped to 9.88% in 2023-24, down from 11.5% in 2022-23. Beginning teachers (less than three years of experience) had an attrition rate of 12.92%, new teacher attrition (0-5 years) left at rates between 11.7% and 17.5%, and veteran educators (28 years or more) had departure rates between 18.5% and 26.8%.
Top educators of 2025
Pitt County Schools’ Rachel Candaso was named the 2025 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year in April. Orange High School Principal Jason Johnson was named the Wells Fargo 2025 Principal of the Year in May. Person County Schools Superintendent Rodney Peterson was named the Burroughs Wellcome Fund A. Craig Phillips North Carolina Superintendent of the Year for 2026 in October.
PowerSchool data breach
The 2025 school year also featured a PowerSchool data breach. PowerSchool, the student information system formerly used by all 115 North Carolina school districts, said the breach included sensitive personally identifiable information of students and staff, and PowerSchool paid an undisclosed ransom to hackers, claiming to have verified that the stolen data was destroyed.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) worked with districts to enhance data protection. However, in early May, “threat actors” emailed 20 districts in the state demanding ransoms for data stolen in the December 2024 breach. NCDPI advised districts to ignore and report the emails without engagement, as the state prepares to phase out PowerSchool for Infinite Campus. PowerSchool continues providing two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection, with enrollment deadlines under discussion for extension.
The FBI and state cybersecurity officials investigated the breach despite PowerSchool’s prior assurance that the data was destroyed after their ransom payment, and in May, 19-year-old Matthew D. Lane from Worcester, Massachusetts, entered a guilty plea to four federal charges, including cybercrimes and aggravated identity theft.
Winston-Salem/Forsyth budget crisis
A state audit of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth Public Schools System (WS/FCS) found millions in fiscal mismanagement, which led to the district overspending and resulting in a $46 million budget deficit. One of the major issues the audit found was the district’s $75 million in COVID-era temporary federal funding used to support staff salaries and bonuses. When the funds ended, WS/FCS absorbed those costs instead of removing positions.
WS/FCS also owed around $11.3 million to NCDPI as of June 30. The district’s July request to waive any penalties was rejected by NCDPI. The State Board of Education met in September and approved extending a grace period on the $3.4 million WS/FCS still owed to NCDPI. The $3.4 million was reported by WS/FCS as paid in full at a hearing in mid-November.
The district’s audits are not over, with the Local Government Commission — which oversees the fiscal health of local government units — unanimously approving in September an independent audit for the district. In early November, the State Board of Education unanimously approved a six-month internal controls review contract for WS/FCS using the accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins, with a report due by Dec. 31 and public presentation by Feb. 15, 2026.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools officials grilled
In mid-December, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools’ Board Chair George Griffin and Superintendent Rodney Trice were grilled by House Oversight lawmakers for more than two hours over the district’s failure to uphold portions of the Parents’ Bill of Rights Law involving pronouns and gender identity lessons in K-4.
The hearing included examples of books legislators deemed inappropriately sexual for elementary students, accusations of Griffin perjuring himself, and Rep. Brenden Jones (R-Columbus), the committee’s co-chair, telling the two men that their picking and choosing which parts of the law they wanted to follow was a “coordinated middle finger to this legislature and to every parent in your district.”
