§ 115C-299.5.  Duty to monitor the state of the teaching profession.

(a) Definitions. - As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) Hard-to-staff school. - Any school identified as low-performing, as provided in G.S. 115C-105.37.

(2) Hard-to-staff subject area. - A subject area that is either of the following:

a. As defined by the United States Department of Education.

b. A subject area that has resulted in a long-term vacancy of 16 months or more at a particular school in a local school administrative unit.

(3) Teacher vacancy. - A teaching position that a local board of education is unable to fill with a teacher licensed in that subject area, including a position that meets any of the following criteria:

a. Is not filled by a teacher who has one of the following licenses in the subject area of the position:

1. Continuing Professional License.

2. Initial Professional License.

3. Lifetime License.

4. Limited License.

5. Residency License.

b. Is not filled by a licensed teacher in a permanent assignment.

c. Is filled by a substitute teacher or interim teacher.

d. Is filled by a teacher with (i) an emergency license or (ii) another permit or license not included in sub-subdivision a. of this subdivision.

(b) State of the Teaching Profession Report. - The State Board of Education shall monitor and compile an annual report by December 15 annually on the state of the teaching profession in North Carolina that includes data on the decisions of teachers to leave the teaching profession and vacancies in teaching positions as provided in subsections (c) and (e) of this section. The State Board shall adopt standard procedures for each local board of education to use in requesting information required by this report and shall require each local board of education to report the information to the State Board in a standard format adopted by the State Board.

(c) Teachers Leaving the Profession. - The report shall include the following data on the decisions of teachers to leave the teaching profession in the prior school year:

(1) The number of teachers who left the profession without remaining in the field of education and the reasons for teachers leaving the profession.

(2) The number of teachers who left their employment to teach in other states.

(3) The number of teachers who left their employment to work in another school in North Carolina, including nonpublic schools and charter schools.

(4) The number of teachers who left a classroom position for another type of educational position.

(5) The number of teachers who left employment in hard-to-staff schools.

(6) The number of teachers who left employment in hard-to-staff subject areas.

(d) Teacher Effectiveness. - The annual teacher transition report by the State Board of Education shall disaggregate the data included in subsection (c) of this section by teacher effectiveness status at a statewide level. The report shall not disaggregate data on teacher effectiveness status at a local school administrative unit level. Notwithstanding Article 21A of this Chapter, local school administrative units shall provide to the State Board of Education, for the purposes of this report, any North Carolina Educator Evaluation System (NCEES) effectiveness status assigned to teachers who left employment. The State Board of Education shall not report disaggregated data that reveals confidential information in a teacher's personnel file, as defined by Article 21A of this Chapter, such as making the effectiveness status personally identifiable to an individual teacher.

(e) Teacher Vacancies. - The report shall include data on teacher vacancies by the fortieth school instructional day of the local school administrative unit's calendar. The report shall aggregate all data to provide both statewide information and information specific to each local school administrative unit, including the following:

(1) The number of teacher vacancies by subject area.

(2) The number of teacher vacancies by school with identification of hard-to-staff schools.

(f) Teacher Licensure. - The report shall include the number of teachers in each of the following licensure categories, by subject area, aggregated to provide statewide information and information specific to each local school administrative unit and school:

(1) Continuing Professional License.

(2) Initial Professional License.

(3) Lifetime License.

(4) Limited License.

(5) Residency License.

(6) Emergency License.

(g) Report Consolidation. - The report required by this section shall be consolidated with the State of the School Administration Profession Report required by G.S. 115C-289.2. (2017-189, s. 5(b); 2020-3, s. 2.15(b); 2021-180, s. 7.78(a); 2023-134, s. 7.77(c).)