AN ACT to remove testing requirements for admission to an educator preparation program, to modify the teacher licensure exam time line, and to modify teacher licensure requirements for out‑of‑state applicants.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑269.15(a) is repealed.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 115C‑270.15(c) reads as rewritten:

(c)      Time Line for Completion of Examinations. – The State Board of Education shall permit an applicant to fulfill any such examination requirement before or during the third year of licensure, provided the applicant took the examination at least once during the first year of licensure.licensure.

SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑270.25 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑270.25.  Out‑of‑state license applicants.

The State Board of Education shall grant a CPL to a teacher licensed in another state with substantially similar licensure requirements who has at least three years of teaching experience and is in good standing with the other state.

SECTION 4.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2026‑2027 fiscal year for the purpose of implementing the requirements of this act.

SECTION 4.(b)  This section becomes effective July 1, 2026.

SECTION 5.  Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes law.