H 794 - Modify Teacher Career Status Law

• Replaces "case managers" with "hearing officers" who must be licensed North Carolina attorneys with education law or employment law expertise, reducing the master list from 42 to 15 qualified hearing officers.

• Extends the timeline for hearing officers to complete reports from 10 days to 90 days, with compensation reductions for late submissions, and requires hearing officers to make factual findings only without recommending case disposition.

• Renames "action plans" to "mandatory improvement plans" for teachers with below-proficient ratings and expands the mandatory improvement plan process to include qualified observer assessments and monitoring in non-low-performing schools.

• Adds new evaluation and dismissal procedures for teachers in non-low-performing schools under G.S. 115C-333.1, including provisions for mandatory improvement plans and State Board notification of teacher dismissals.

• Changes terminology throughout from "certified employees" to "licensed employees" and modifies various procedural timelines, requiring five work days instead of two days for multiple notification and decision periods.