Modify Math & Social Studies Grad. Req.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 2
HOUSE BILL 415
Committee Substitute Favorable 5/6/25

Short Title: Modify Math & Social Studies Grad. Req. (Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:
March 18, 2025
*H415-v-2*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REMOVE THE MATH III GRADUATION REQUIREMENT, TO MODIFY THE 2
HIGH SCHOOL MATHEMAT ICS GRADUATION REQUI REMENTS, TO REQUIRE 3
ADDITIONAL HIGH SCHO OL MATHEMATICS INSTR UCTION FOR CERTAIN 4
STUDENTS, TO REQUIRE A HIGH SCHOOL UNITE D STATES HISTORY TEST, TO 5
MODIFY THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLES HIGH SCHOOL COURSE REQUIREMENTS, 6
AND TO REQUIRE THE U NIVERSITY OF NORTH C AROLINA'S CONSTITUEN T 7
INSTITUTIONS TO ALIG N MINIMUM ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS WITH T HE 8
MATHEMATICS REQUIREMENTS FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. 9
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 10
SECTION 1.(a) Beginning with the 2025 -2026 school year, the State Board of 11
Education shall not require any student to complete NC Math III as one of the four required 12
mathematics courses for high school graduation. 13
SECTION 1.(b) Public school units shall encourage all students to complete 14
additional mathematics courses beyond the required courses. Public school units shall encourage 15
students who are interested in pursuing advanced degrees to work with school counselors to 16
determine a sequence of mathematics courses that would make them most competitive for 17
admission to an institution of higher education. NC Math III and all other math courses existing 18
on the effective date of this act shall continue to be made available to all high school students. 19
SECTION 1.(c) The State Board of Education may adopt emergency rules in 20
accordance with G.S. 150B-21.1A to implement this section for the 2025-2026 school year. 21
SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 115C-83.31(a) reads as rewritten: 22
"(a) The State Board of Education shall require the following for high school graduation: 23
(1) Successful completion of instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation as 24
provided in G.S. 115C-81.25(c)(10). 25
(2) A passing grade in the semester cours e on the Founding Principles of the 26
United States of America and the State of North Carolina described in 27
G.S. 115C-81.45(d)(1).To meet the four credits required for social studies, a 28
passing grade in each of the following courses: 29
a. World History. 30
b. United States History. 31
c. Founding Principles of the United States of America and North 32
Carolina: Civic Literacy, as provided in G.S. 115C-81.45(d)(1). 33
d. Economics and Personal Finance, as provided in G.S. 115C-81.65. 34
(3) A passing grade in a computer scienc e course as provided in 35
G.S. 115C-81.90(c). The computer science course shall fulfill one credit that 36
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 415-Second Edition
is not an English, mathematics, science, or social studies credit. Students 1
enrolling in a public high school in this State after completion of the eleventh 2
grade shall be exempt from this requirement.To meet the four credits required 3
for mathematics, a passing grade in each of the following courses: 4
a. NC Math I. 5
b. NC Math II. 6
c. Computer Science, as provided in G.S. 115C-81.90. Students 7
enrolling in a public high school in this State after completion of the 8
eleventh grade are exempt from this requirement. 9
d. A fourth mathematics course aligned with the student 's career 10
development plan completed in accordance with G.S. 115C-158.10. 11
(4) A passing score on the United States History test adopted by the State Board 12
of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(1a)." 13
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 115C-174.11(c) reads as rewritten: 14
"(c) Annual Testing Program. – 15
(1) The State Board of Education shall adopt the tests for grades three through 12 16
that are required by federal law or as a condition of a federal grant. These tests 17
shall be designed to measure progress toward reading, communication skills, 18
and mathematics for grades three through eight, and toward competencies for 19
grades nine through 12. Students who do not pass the tests adopted for eighth 20
grade shall be provided remedial instruction in the ninth grade. 21
(1a) The State Board of Education shall adopt a test for the United States History 22
course required by G.S. 115C-83.31 composed of questions from the pool of 23
publicly available questions to be used for the civics test given by the U.S. 24
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as part of the naturalization 25
interview and test i ssued by USCIS. The State Board shall determine the 26
format of the test and the number of questions to be included in the test. 27
(2) If the State Board of Education finds that additional testing in grades three 28
through 12 is desirable to allow comparisons wi th national indicators of 29
student achievement, that testing shall be conducted with the smallest size 30
sample of students necessary to assure valid comparisons with other states. 31
…." 32
SECTION 2.(c) This section applies beginning with students entering the ninth grade 33
in the 2026-2027 school year. 34
SECTION 3.(a) In response to Computer Science becoming mathematics courses, 35
the State Board of Education shall develop a plan to remove licensing barrier s for individuals 36
who were licensed or eligible to be licensed to teach Computer Science prior to it becoming a 37
mathematics course. 38
SECTION 3.(b) Notwithstanding any law or rule to the contrary, a public school 39
unit may allow any licensed teacher, regardl ess of licensure area, to teach Computer Science if 40
the public school unit determines the teacher possesses the necessary content knowledge to 41
effectively teach the course. 42
SECTION 3.(c) This section expires June 30, 2028. 43
SECTION 4.(a) Article 8 of Chap ter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by 44
adding a new section to read: 45
"§ 115C-81.37. Enrollment in foundational high school mathematics courses. 46
Local boards of education shall enroll students in high school mathematics courses in 47
accordance with all of the following: 48
(1) Students scoring a Level 1 or Level 2 on the eighth grade mathematics 49
end-of-grade exam shall be enrolled in Foundations of Math I prior to 50
enrolling in NC Math I in high school unless one of the following applies: 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 415-Second Edition Page 3
a. The student 's parent provides written consent for the student to be 1
enrolled in NC Math I after being adequately informed that the 2
student's placement was determined by the student 's achievement on 3
the previous end-of-grade exam. 4
b. The student's principal directs that the student be enrolled in NC Math 5
I based on evidence in the student 's academic record that the 6
enrollment is appropriate. 7
(2) Students scoring a Level 1 or Level 2 on the NC Math I end -of-course exam 8
shall be enrolled in Foundations of Math II prior to enrolling in NC Math II 9
unless one of the following applies: 10
a. The student 's parent provides written consent for the student to be 11
enrolled in NC Math II after being adequately informed that the 12
student's placement was determined by the student 's achievement on 13
the previous end-of-course exam. 14
b. The student's principal directs that the student be enrolled in NC Math 15
II based on evidence in the student 's academic reco rd that the 16
enrollment is appropriate. 17
(3) Students scoring at or above a Level 3 on the eight h grade m athematics 18
end-of-grade exam shall be encouraged not to take Foundations of Math I 19
prior to enrolling in NC Math I in high school. 20
(4) Students scoring at or above a Level 3 on the NC Math I end-of-course exam 21
shall be encouraged not to take Foundations of Math II prior to enrolling in 22
NC Math II." 23
SECTION 4.(b) This section applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. 24
SECTION 5.(a) G.S. 115C-81.45(d) reads as rewritten: 25
"(d) Founding Principles of the United States of America and North Carolina: Civic 26
Literacy. – 27
(1) The State Board of Education shall require instruction in civic and citizenship 28
education in the standard course of study for high school social studies 29
through the teaching of a full -credit course that shall be called Founding 30
Principles of the United States of America and North Carolina: Civic Literacy. 31
A passing grade in the course shall be required for graduation fr om high 32
school. 33
(1a) The course required by subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be solely 34
focused on civics and citizenship education, and shall include at least the 35
following subjects: 36
a. The Creator-endowed inalienable rights of the people. 37
b. Structure of government, separation of powers with checks and 38
balances. 39
c. Frequent and free elections in a representative government. 40
d. Rule of law. 41
e. Equal justice under the law. 42
f. Private property rights. 43
g. Federalism. 44
h. Due process. 45
i. Individual rights as set forth in the Bill of Rights. 46
j. Individual responsibility. 47
k. Constitutional limitations on government power to tax and spend, and 48
prompt payment of public debt. 49
l. Strong defense and supremacy of civil authority over military. 50
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 House Bill 415-Second Edition
m. Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling 1
alliances with none. 2
(1b) The State Board of Education is strongly encouraged to include the following 3
components in the course required by subdivision (1) of this subsection: 4
a. That students write to a local, State, or federal elected official about 5
an issue that is important to them. 6
b. Instruction on the importance of voting and otherwise participating in 7
the democratic process, including instruction on voter registration. 8
c. Information about current events and governmental structure. 9
d. Information about the democratic process and how laws are made. 10
(1c) The course required by subdivision (1) of this subsection shall require students 11
to read the following documents in their entirety: 12
a. The Constitution of the United States of America. 13
b. The Declaration of Independence. 14
c. The Emancipation Proclamation. 15
d. At least five essays from the Federalist Papers, as determined by the 16
teacher. 17
e. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail. 18
f. The Gettysburg Address. 19
g. The North Carolina State Constitution. 20
h. George Washington's Farewell Address. 21
(2) The State Board of Education shall require that any high school level 22
curriculum-based tests for the course required in subdivision (1) of this 23
subsection developed and administered statewide include questions related to 24
the philosophical foundations of our form of government and the principles 25
underlying the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution 26
and its amendments, and the most important of the Federalist Papers.all of the 27
following related to the documents listed in sub division (1c) of this 28
subsection: 29
a. The principles underlying the documents. 30
b. The perspectives of the authors of the documents. 31
c. The relevant historical contexts at the time the documents were 32
written. 33
(3) The Department of Public Instruction and the local boards of education, as 34
appropriate, shall provide or cause to be provided curriculum content for the 35
course required in subdivi sion (1) of this subsection and professional 36
development to ensure that the intent and provisions of this subsection are 37
carried out. The curriculum content established shall include a review of the 38
contributions made by Americans of all races. 39
(4) The Dep artment of Public Instruction shall submit a biennial report by 40
October 15 of each odd -numbered year to the Joint Legislative Education 41
Oversight Committee covering the implementation of this subsection." 42
SECTION 5.(b) This section applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. 43
SECTION 6.(a) G.S. 116-11 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 44
"(8c) The Board of Governors shall adopt as the minimum mathematics 45
requirements for admission to a constituent inst itution the mathematics 46
requirements for high school graduation adopted by the State Board of 47
Education." 48
SECTION 6.(b) This section applies beginning with students applying for admission 49
for the 2026-2027 academic year. 50
SECTION 7.(a) G.S. 115C-83.32(c) is repealed. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 415-Second Edition Page 5
SECTION 7.(b) G.S. 115C-218.85(c) is repealed. 1
SECTION 7.(c) Section 5 of S.L. 2019-82 is repealed. 2
SECTION 7.(d) Section 1(b) of S.L. 2023-132 is repealed. 3
SECTION 8. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 4
law. 5