Cellphones, a statewide school bond: Stein's education proposals meet agreement, resistance

Gov. Josh Stein says he has plans to address cellphones in schools and inadequate school infrastructure, but he'll need legislative help.

Stein, a Democrat, called for restrictions on cellphone use in schools, a $4 billion school construction bond and many other education initiatives during his State of the State address Wednesday night.

While some of Stein's priorities have bipartisan support, Republican lawmakers have expressed skepticism toward others.

One issue Stein and many Republicans and Democrats are aligned on: Cellphones in schools.

Stein supports bipartisan bills in House and Senate that would place restrictions on cellphones. The bills don't contain a lot of details about how those restrictions would be enforced.

Stein called cellphones a "major distraction" for students and a "disruption" for teachers, who have to compete with social media for students' attention.

"Too many young people are struggling, too many kids are bullied," Stein said. "They need and they deserve a seven-hour break from the unrelenting pressures of phones and social media. Classrooms should be cellphone-free zones."

Most schools technically already restrict cellphones during class time, according to a National Center for Education Statistics survey from 2022. But teachers struggle to enforce them, students fight back and many parents aren't interested in a crackdown. Parents often want to be able to reach their children during emergencies or to make last-minute plans.

Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators said she's anxious to see what Stein and other leaders ultimately pitch for a cellphone ban. Her organization represents thousands of school employees and hears from teachers and parents.

They tell Walker Kelly that consistency is needed, and that tools like phone pouches or cellphone agreements with students and parents could help.

"One of the things that we hear from teachers is that they want to ensure that that is not one additional responsibility that gets added to their plate," Walker Kelly said.

But the issue is one that needs to be addressed, she said, because social media and cellphones are playing a huge role in young people's lives.

Mitch Prinstein, co-director of the Winston National Center on Technology Use, Brain, and Psychological Development, said about half of kids show signs of some clinical dependency on social media. Higher device use has been associated with lower grades, he said.

But whether to restrict cellphones is just the start of the conversation.

"Enforcement is the biggest issue," Prinstein said. "Even in schools with a policy, many teachers and students report imperfect enforcement."

Stein has called for restrictions on cellphones in schools before. Last year, as attorney general, he hosted a series of town halls across the state about the issue. At the time, he acknowledged that while many parents are on board, many others are not. He wanted to try to convince more parents of the benefit of the restrictions.

Higher teacher pay and a school construction bond

Stein also talked about some major funding increases, like raising teacher pay to be more competitive with neighboring states.

He wants lawmakers to put a $4 billion bond for school infrastructure in front of voters. That would help make up at least some of the $12.8 billions in infrastructure needs that schools listed in the 2020 Facility Needs Survey, the most recent survey on the topic.

Former Gov. Roy Cooper used to repeatedly call for school bonds and included them in his recommended budgets, but typically not at that amount for schools only.

Stein said too many schools use trailers for classrooms, have leaky roofs, are overcrowded and struggle to maintain adequate heating and air conditioning. He also called for more safety measures, like fences around playgrounds, cameras and more restricted building access -- if schools don't have those things already.

"It is 2025," Stein said. 'We should not have to send kids home from school because the heat doesn't work."

In Wake County, just this school year, dozens of schools have released students early because of malfunctioning heating or air conditioning on days with more extreme temperatures. Dozens did the same the year before. The district has listed $214 million in deferred maintenance for HVAC and is also struggling with overcrowded schools in the fastest-growing parts of the county.

Republicans haven't taken up recent request for a statewide school bond, and Democrats hadn't done it recently when they were last in charge, either. The state hasn't seen a statewide school bond since 1996.

But a bond like this is something that many groups have for years been asking for.

It's also in the so-called Leandro Plan. That's the court-ordered agreement in the 31-year-old lawsuit over whether the state is providing an adequate education, known in court as Hoke County Board of Education v. State of North Carolina.

Kris Nordstrom, a senior policy analyst at the North Carolina Justice Center, said a bond would be a big deal for lower-wealth counties that may struggle with a bond of their own. He also said counties just can't spend as much on facilities because they are spending so much on education, including more teachers and others. Counties now spend about $4 billion dollars per year on education but just more than $1 billion per year on infrastructure.

"It's a really important issue, and it's long overdue for state investment," Nordstrom said.

Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Wednesday that he's interested in raising teacher pay but not so far interested in a bond.

He noted that counties are by law responsible for taking care of facilities. The state is responsible for funding education.

"I would look more to local governments and local efforts to deal with much of that," he said, adding that he'd gauge senators' interest on it.

State funding for school capital projects is $408 million this year, largely using lottery funds.

That figure has grown in recent years, too, Berger noted.

But Berger believes lawmakers all agree on some teacher pay increase.

Stein wants to raise teacher pay to be more competitive with nearby states' salaries.

The National Education Association's 2024 Educator Pay in America report ranks North Carolina 42nd in the nation in starting teacher salary ($40,136) and 38th in average teacher salary ($56,559). Beginning teacher pay has since risen to $41,000. Virginia, by contrast, was 17th in starting teacher salary ($46,250) and 25th in average salary ($63,103). South Carolina was 33rd in starting pay ($42,026) and 35th in average salary ($57,778). Tennessee had higher starting pay but lower average pay, than North Carolina, and Georgia ranked better in both categories, at 39th for starting salary and 20th in average salary.

Stein also said he wanted to reward teachers who stay in the classroom. He didn't elaborate on what he meant by that, but a longtime complaint among teachers is that salary in North Carolina flatlines once a teacher has worked 15 years. In other words, they no longer get annual raises unless the General Assembly decides to lift the payscale.

While Stein called for funding increases, he also called for cutting income taxes for the middle class. Stein said those should happen rather than tax cuts for companies. The General Assembly has planned reduced income taxes for all North Carolinians and eventually reducing the corporate tax rate to 0%.

Stein said he wants lawmakers to prioritize funding for public schools, rather than continuing to focus on tuition vouchers for private school students.

Other items likely to cost more include Stein's calls for more professional development for middle school teachers and free breakfast for all students.

Stein supports expanding the state's new training for reading instruction to middle school teachers. The state has retrained public pre-kindergarten through fifth grade teachers on new methods of teaching reading that are more aligned with research on how the brain learns to read and develops language skills. While the long-term goal is to improve reading skills among younger students, current Superintendent Mo Green supports expanding this training to middle school teachers, who often need to provide supports to children who haven't mastered certain reading skills. The training for elementary teachers cost more than $50 million.

Stein supports providing free breakfasts to all North Carolina students, arguing that it would improve student attendance, behavior and learning.

Higher education priorities

At the higher education level, Stein called for free community college tuition for students pursuing credentials in high-demand sectors, such as manufacturing, health career or information technology. He supports a new community college funding model -- dubbed Propel NC -- that would provide more investment in higher-demand sectors.

Stein is creating a Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships that will work with area businesses to provide more apprenticeship opportunities to both K-12 and community college students. Providing more apprenticeships is something North Carolina Chamber of Commerce leaders, along with former State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, have emphasized recently.

Earlier this week, Stein announced his new Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, which intends to find solutions to the shortage of affordable childcare and early education opportunities.