Perspective | Constitutional amendments pose a threat to NC public schools
Two proposed tax amendments could reshape the state’s fiscal choices. What might that mean for educational opportunity?
Taking an official position on tax policy is not something the Public School Forum has often done. However, the tax amendments on the ballot this November present us with a new and measurable threat to our public schools, and we’ve chosen to respond accordingly.
Taxes, budgets, and public schools are entangled in complex ways. Taxes make up the vast majority of state and local revenues. Public schools depend on support from federal, state, and local levels. Public school budgets, already constrained and insufficient to meet the needs of our students, depend on tax revenues. Thus, we simply cannot talk about our public schools without talking about taxes.
We urge voters to vote “against” all amendments on the ballot to protect critical funding for public schools and services.
As a part of our work in this space, our team has been in many public spaces, talking to North Carolinians about what they value in their communities. One of these events inspired an education leader, new to advocacy and tax policy, to write their very first op-ed. They recognized the necessity of public funds to support their community, and felt compelled to enter the conversation. It is our hope that publishing their words will encourage others to consider the connections between this upcoming election and their own experience.
For more information on the amendments, including ways to get involved in your community, please visit NCvoteagainst.org.
Read more
The following is written by an community leader who shared with Forum ambassadors a need for anonymity.
Imagine a North Carolina where the scariest thing about Halloween is not the costumes or haunted houses but what happens inside our public schools.
Classrooms are overcrowded. Teachers, stretched thin, struggle to give every student the attention they need. School buildings await repairs, counselors have too many students to support, and families facing economic hardship have fewer resources to turn to. Outside the classroom, more families struggle to afford housing and basic necessities.
In this imagined future, a child’s opportunities depend increasingly on the ZIP code where they grow up and the resources their family can afford.
This may sound like a Halloween horror story. But it raises a serious question: How could today’s fiscal decisions shape tomorrow’s educational opportunities?
As early voting for the 2026 election begins, two proposed constitutional amendments deserve attention from anyone concerned about the future of public education in North Carolina.
Sign up for the EdDaily to start each weekday with the top education news.
The fiscal choices behind the story
The first amendment would lower the maximum state income tax rate permitted by the North Carolina Constitution from 7% to 3.5%.
The second would require the General Assembly to enact laws limiting increases in local property tax levies, with possible exceptions.
Neither amendment directly orders cuts to school budgets, but both could constrain future state or local revenue decisions.
The distinction matters. Approval would not automatically produce school closures, larger classes, or reduced services. The actual effects would depend on future budgets, implementing legislation, economic conditions, and other funding decisions.
Still, the potential implications deserve scrutiny.
When funding choices shape opportunity
North Carolina public schools rely on state, federal, and local funding. In the 2023-24 school year, state funds accounted for 60% of public school instructional expenditures, while local funds accounted for 23%, according to the Forum. Local governments also provide nearly all funding for school capital expenses, including buildings and maintenance.
The income tax amendment would place a lower constitutional ceiling on the state’s ability to raise income tax rates in the future. Supporters may see this as a way to limit taxes and protect taxpayers. But a lower ceiling could also restrict one option available to future legislatures if public needs grow and other revenue sources prove insufficient.
The property tax amendment raises a related question at the local level. Counties differ considerably in their ability to fund public services. The Public School Forum’s local finance research has documented substantial differences in local school spending. In the 2023-24 school year, Orange County spent $456 more per student than the seven lowest-spending counties combined. The Forum has also documented differences in locally funded teacher salary supplements between wealthier and lower-wealth counties.
These disparities already exist. If local governments have less flexibility to raise revenue, communities with fewer taxable resources could face additional challenges unless state funding or other measures help address the gap.
That is the central concern: Educational opportunity could become even more dependent on where a student lives.
Read more
The cost of getting it wrong
Public schools cannot solve poverty or housing insecurity on their own. These amendments wouldn’t necessarily cause either problem to worsen, but schools are part of the infrastructure that helps communities create opportunity.
When schools have adequate resources, teachers can better support students, buildings can be maintained, and children can access the services they need to learn. When resources fall short, students with fewer alternatives outside school may have the most to lose.
Tax relief and responsible public spending are legitimate policy goals. So is ensuring that every child has access to a sound basic education. The challenge is to evaluate both the immediate benefits of tax limits and the long-term consequences for the public services families depend on.
Before constitutional limits narrow future fiscal choices, North Carolinians should ask how the state and its counties would meet growing educational needs, preserve essential services, and address existing funding disparities.
Halloween is a time for imagining frightening possibilities. The more consequential task is examining the choices that could shape our children’s future, and making sure those choices are informed by evidence, not assumptions.
The question is not simply how much we pay in taxes. It is what kind of public education system North Carolina will be able to sustain for the next generation.