Restore Master-Level Pay for School Social Workers

Issue: Masters-level school social workers, including licensed clinical social workers, are currently being paid on the Bachelor level teacher pay scale and are leaving the profession. We need to keep these skilled mental health professionals in our schools! HB523 School Social Workers/Master's Pay has been introduced at NASW-NC's request on 3/26/2025!

More than one in five North Carolina high school students have seriously considered attempting suicide. Between 18-20 percent of North Carolina students have mental health issues, yet only 1 in 5 receive the necessary services (Source: https://bit.ly/NCStudentMentalHealth).

School social workers are on the front lines supporting North Carolina students' mental health:

• School social workers help students deal with a wide range of challenges such as failing grades, bullying, violence, thoughts of suicide and other mental health issues, chronic absenteeism and difficult home situations.
• School social workers are trained and licensed professionals who provide a link between the home, school and community through support services that positively impact the development of the whole student.
• School social workers, with their crisis management expertise, clinical proficiency and leadership skills, are uniquely positioned to assist all members of the educational community when a crisis occurs.
• School social workers are experts in research-based school discipline policy development that can increase school connectedness and decrease incidents of school violence.

The National Association of Social Workers North Carolina Chapter supports increasing Master-Level pay for school social workers to retain the workforce who supports students mental health, enhance school safety, and promote healthy families and communities.

Why is Restoring School Social Workers Pay to Master-Level Important?

• Between 18-20 percent of North Carolina students have mental health issues, yet only 1 in 5 receive the necessary services.
• Across North Carolina, there are approximately 405 Bachelor-level school social workers and 890 Master-level school social workers. Master-level school social workers are able to provide specialized services around youth mental health issues like trauma and co-occurring disorders. These services are critical to the mental health of students and well-being of schools and communities.
• In 2024, North Carolina’s school social worker-to-student ratio was four times the recommended ratio which is 1 school social worker to 250 students, yet in North Carolina’s ratio was 1:995. This ratio continues to increase as school social workers are leaving the profession and the end of COVID funds which allowed for the funding of additional school social work positions.

NASW-NC urges North Carolina lawmakers to support the North Carolina Department of Instruction and State Board of Education's budgetary ask for restoring Masters pay for teachers/school social workers and increase in School Health Personnel Allotment by $65.5 million in recurring funds which includes School Social Workers to support North Carolina's most vulnerable students.

We need your voice to ensure the success of this bill! Here’s how you can take action:

1. Email your House member: Reach out to your Representative and urge them to support HB523. Explain how this will increase retention of social workers who support the mental health and safety of students and the education team.
2. Subscribe to NASW-NC Advocacy Alerts: NASW-NC will be working hard to move the legislation through committees and will be letting members know when to reach out to the appropriate committee members with talking points.
3. Join NASW! The NASW-NC lobbying team would not exist without the incredible support of the membership. Thank you if you are a member of NASW. We have been able to do this work because of you!