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Public School Forum

Public School Forum

A think-and-do tank committed to North Carolina public schools

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School Finance in North Carolina

Local School Finance Study

Learn more about funding disparities in our state

County
Profiles

View data and demographics for your county

LSFS Data Tables

View data and rankings for each county

Leandro v. State

Learn more about the Leandro school funding case


How are Public Schools Funded in North Carolina?

Under North Carolina’s school finance system, established nearly nine decades ago, it is the state’s responsibility to fund instructional expenses (including personnel) while county governments are responsible for the cost of capital expenses (buildings and maintenance). While the state bears responsibility for fulfilling its constitutional obligation of providing a sound basic education to every child, North Carolina schools have three sources of funding. In the 2019-20 school year, North Carolina public schools spent nearly $14.1 billion on instructional expenses, using a combination of state, federal, and local resources. State funding accounted for 67 percent of expenditures, federal funding accounted for 10 percent, and local funding accounted for 23 percent of spending.

The nearly century-old division of state and local responsibility for school funding still shapes the way North Carolina pays for public education today, with approximately 65 percent of instructional expenditures coming from the state and over 97 percent of capital expenses paid at the local level. However, this division has eroded somewhat in recent years. In 2019-2020, counties funded 17.7 percent of principal and assistant principal positions, 6.9 percent of teachers, 8.8 percent of teacher assistants, and 23 percent of professional instructional support personnel; and the state funded 2.5 percent of capital expenses.

State funding for school operations has increased from $3.44 billion in 1992-93 and represents the largest part of the state’s budget. But while the level of funding has increased over time due to enrollment and cost increases, the percentage of the state’s General Fund dedicated to education has declined sharply since 1970. In 2019-20, 41 percent of the state’s General Fund was appropriated for K-12 public education, a significant drop from 1970, when it was 52.5 percent. According to the Department of Public Instruction, if public education were funded at the same percentage of the General Fund as in 1970, districts and schools would have an additional $3 billion to educate our students.

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1017 Main Campus Drive
Suite 2300
Raleigh, NC 27606
919-781-6833
info@ncforum.org

Recent Tweets

#NCEd For over 30 years, the Forum's annual Local School Finance Study has highlighted variations and trends in local spending for public education across our state. Check out this year's study and interactive map to see your county's numbers: ncforum.org/lsfs/

About 3 days ago

RT @Lys_Morrison If you are following #nced and #PathwaystoExcellence work of #PEPSC, #SBE, review the focus group results from @theNCForum. I appreciate their efforts to facilitate feedback from a broad range of stakeholders--now we need space to act on it. ncforum.org/2022/pathways/

About 3 days ago

As we face a severe teacher workforce shortage, we have the opportunity to increase teacher pay significantly in this budget. Beginning teachers will only make $37,000 on the state pay scale in the proposal. Veteran teachers will only receive small increases. We must do more. twitter.com/newsobserver/s…

About 4 days ago

RT @epfp_iel EPFP North Carolina @theNCForum is now accepting applications for their 22-23 cohort! Learn more at ncforum.org/epfp/. Don't wait - complete the application by July 31st! #Leadership

About 4 days ago

RT @JustinParmenter If you haven't taken a look at @theNCForum's focus group feedback collection, it's excellent. The Forum assembled groups of principals, BOE members, district staff, etc. to talk about strengths and challenges of the current model. #nced #ncpol ncforum.org/2022/public-sc…

About 4 days ago

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Our Mission

For more than 30 years the Public School Forum of North Carolina has served as an indispensable and nonpartisan champion of better schools. We bring together individuals and institutions from business, education and government to study education issues, develop ideas, seek consensus, and ultimately inform and shape education policy.

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