Rep. Prather files teacher pay and voucher bill in North Carolina House

A new bill filed by State Rep. Lindsey Prather seeks to change North Carolina’s teacher pay structure and adjust school voucher eligibility requirements, according to the North Carolina State House.

The bill, filed as HB 1178 on April 30 during the 2025 regular session, was formally listed with the short title: ‘The NC Teacher Pay Competitiveness Act.’

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill sets a new teacher salary schedule beginning with the 2026-27 school year, guarantees annual raises through at least 2032-33 tied first to fixed percentages and later to a federal cost index, and creates a Teacher Salary Reserve with scheduled General Fund appropriations starting at $825.1 million in 2026-27 and rising annually. It defines and funds supplemental pay for teachers and certain school staff, with a formula targeting lower-wealth counties and barring the use of state funds to replace local supplements. The bill also tightens income and enrollment eligibility for Opportunity Scholarships, restructures award amounts by income tiers, and sharply reduces current and future appropriations to the voucher reserve. The teacher compensation provisions take effect July 1, 2026.

Of the four sponsors of this bill, Prather proposed the most bills (48) during the 2025 regular session.

Bills in North Carolina follow a multi-step process before becoming law. A lawmaker starts by filing a bill, which is assigned to a committee for review. The bill must be read three times in each chamber. If one chamber changes the bill after the other passes it, both must agree on the final version. Once both chambers approve the same bill, it goes to the governor, who has 10 days (or 30 if the legislature is not in session) to sign, veto, or let it become law without a signature.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.

Prather graduated from the University of North Carolina Asheville in 2008 with a BA.

Prather, a Democrat, was elected to the North Carolina State House in 2023 to represent the state’s 115th House district, replacing previous state representative John Ager.