Wake County school board approves 2025 state legislative priorities after amendments on licensure, vouchers and meals

The Wake County Board of Education unanimously adopted its 2025 state legislative priorities on Feb. 4 after a series of amendments that added calls to reduce barriers to teacher licensure, oppose expansion of private school vouchers, request additional funding for school meals and expand “restart” school flexibility.

Vice Chair Lester Swanson moved to adopt the board’s legislative priorities and Board Member Mahaffey seconded the motion. After multiple amendments and debate the final document was approved by the full board by a unanimous vote.

Among the amendments the board approved:

- Reducing barriers to teacher licensure: A motion led by Board Member Hershey asked the General Assembly to accept out-of-state licensure tests, eliminate additional testing requirements such as the edTPA, and reduce state licensure fees to help recruitment and retention. The board adopted the amendment and instructed staff to incorporate the text into the state priorities.

- Prioritizing public school funding over private vouchers: Board Member Edmonds moved language asking the General Assembly to “prioritize public school dollars to fully fund public schools, not private school vouchers.” That amendment passed after debate and was incorporated into the funding section of the legislative priorities.

- Funding and nutrition: Board Member Caulfield successfully proposed language seeking state funding for “adequate funding for improved nutrition” for K–12 students and retained a separate request to close remaining gaps for no-cost meals in K–5 if the state pursues universal meal funding. Superintendent Robert Taylor told the board staff would calculate specific dollar estimates for the funding request and share them with board leadership.

- Restart-school flexibility: The board added language asking the General Assembly to expand the use of “restart” school flexibility — authority that has been granted to some low-performing schools to make charter-like operational adjustments — to more public schools so districts can better match resources and programs to local needs.

Board debate touched on strategy and tactics as well as substance. Members who opposed adding explicit anti-voucher language argued the board should aim for shared, practical language that legislators from both parties would read rather than wording that could distract from other priorities. Members who supported the voucher language said it was important for the board to state its values and to call attention to the growing state expenditure on vouchers.

Superintendent Taylor and staff answered questions about numbers and implementation. Taylor said staff would verify funding estimates cited during the meeting and provide a final figure for the district’s nutrition ask.

Formal outcome: After amendments and finish-line procedural votes, the board voted to adopt the 2025 state legislative priorities as amended; the meeting record shows the final adoption was unanimous.

Why it matters: The school board’s state priorities become the document staff and board members take to lawmakers in Raleigh and shape the district’s state-level advocacy for funding, policy changes and regulatory relief. Approved changes target teacher pipeline barriers, gatekeep expansion of public dollars to private schools, and seek additional resources for student nutrition and local operational flexibility.

What’s next: Staff will finalize the formatted legislative priorities with the approved amendments, identify specific funding estimates for the nutrition ask, and prepare the district’s state advocacy package for the General Assembly.