NC Task Force Weighs Full Teacher License

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina teachers may one day earn a full, statewide license without passing the licensing exam that now stands as the final hurdle.

At its first in-person session on Oct. 20, held at the Department of Public Instruction, a State Board of Education task force on educator licensure leaned toward making the exam just one of several ways to qualify. Under that approach, a teacher might qualify on the strength of student gains measured by state testing, or on high marks from a principal’s review. The meeting facilitator described it as the same license reached by a different route and said members appeared to agree.

Tom Tomberlin, DPI’s senior director of educator preparation and licensure, told the panel the exam does not track with how well teachers perform in class. State Sen. Tom McInnis, a Moore County Republican, said lawmakers want to remove barriers that keep capable teachers out of classrooms without lowering standards. The budget that became law in July already lets the state board fully license teachers whose students post positive growth in two of their three most recent years.

DPI data shared at the meeting show how much the pipeline has shifted. Last school year, the state handed out 6,016 emergency licenses plus another 3,281 permits to teach. Those one-year routes, which require little beyond a bachelor’s degree, now account for 30% to 40% of new hires, outnumbering graduates of traditional teacher programs. Teachers who start that way leave at a 55% rate by year five, compared with 37% for traditionally trained teachers.

A middle path already exists. The residency license lets a degree holder teach right away while enrolled in an approved preparation program, and it can be renewed twice for up to three years. According to the department’s figures, residents matched traditionally trained teachers in year one, and about 40% have left by year five.

Growth scores are not a fix for everyone, since the state’s EVAAS system covers only about 40% to 50% of teachers. A full license brings no raise; its main benefit is that it transfers to any district. The panel is not scheduled to gather again before 2027. Any proposal it settles on would go first to the state board and later to the General Assembly.

Filed under: Raleigh NC Education News