On Wednesday, May 24 at 11 am, the Senate Committee on Education/Higher Education met to determine the fate of two bills, House Bill 8, and House Bill 432.
House Bill 8 (H8) is the Computer Science Graduation Requirement bill. This bill is an act to require instruction in computer science and completion of a computer science course for graduation from high school. This bill, if passed, will go into effect during the 2026-2027 school year. The IT community of North Carolina is excited for this bill, as most jobs will require computer skills now and in the future. This bill passed almost unanimously in the House and is a bipartisan effort. It was voted favorably by the Senate Committee on Education/Higher Education and will move to the Rules and Operations Committee of the Senate.
House Bill 423 (H432) is the Principal Licensure Changes bill. This bill is updating licensure standards for Principals and Vice-Principals, which has not been updated in over a decade. This bill is updated with the Department of Public Instruction Standards. It removes the master’s degree requirement, but Administrator Preparation Programs will have more requirements which leads to the granting of a master’s degree. This bill will take away the teaching requirement, which gives the ability to those in administrative positions, media specialists, and guidance counselors to apply, but will still need at least four years in schools. This bill passed unanimously in the house and was voted favorably by the Senate Committee on Education/Higher Education and will move the Rules and Operations Committee of the Senate.
