On June 24, 2026, the North Carolina General Assembly overrode Gov. Josh Stein (D)'s veto of Senate Bill 227, which prohibits what the bill defines as discriminatory practices, divisive concepts, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools. Among other changes, the bill also amends the powers and duties of local school boards to require them to adopt policies prohibiting employees from discriminating based on an individual's protected class under federal law.

Stein vetoed the bill on July 3, 2025. The North Carolina Senate overrode the veto 30-19 on July 29, 2025, with all Democrats opposing the veto override and all Republicans supporting it. The Senate had a veto-proof majority.

The North Carolina House of Representatives overrode the veto 71-47 on June 24, 2026, along the same party lines. The House did not have a veto-proof majority, which would require 72 of the chamber's 120 representatives to support a veto override. However, North Carolina law requires that 60% of present and voting members support the override. Since one representative — Shelly Willingham (D) — was absent, only 71 votes in favor were sufficient to override the veto.

About his veto, Stein said, "Our diversity is our strength. We should not whitewash history, ban books, or treat our teachers with distrust or disdain. Rather than fearing differing viewpoints and cracking down on free speech, we should ensure our students can learn from diverse perspectives and form their own opinions."

In support of the bill, North Carolina House Majority Leader Brenden Jones said, "Every child in North Carolina deserves to walk into a classroom and be treated as an individual, not as a category. … Let us stand with parents and students. Let us stand with teachers who want to teach and not indoctrinate."

What does the bill do?

The bill defined discriminatory practices as those that – on the basis of an individual's federally protected class – advantage or disadvantage individuals as compared to other groups, exclude people from employment, or exclude people from educational programming or activities. Federally protected classes are groups that are protected from discrimination or retaliation by federal laws based on their race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, and disability.

The bill outlawed the teaching of divisive concepts and listed 12 such concepts, including:

• That one race or sex is inherently superior to another.
• Individuals, solely by virtue of their race or sex, are inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.
• Individuals, solely by virtue of their race or sex, bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex.
• The rule of law — the principle that all people, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws that are publicly made and independently adjudicated — does not exist. Instead, there is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.
• Meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist.

Read the bill's full list of divisive concepts here.

Using these definitions of discriminatory practices and divisive concepts, the bill prohibits public schools from the following:

• Compelling students, teachers, administrators, or other school employees to affirm or profess belief in what the bill defines as divisive concepts.
• Providing instruction to students on divisive concepts. 
• Including or advocating for divisive concepts or discriminatory practices with regard to professional development for staff. 
• Employing someone whose duties include promoting what the bill defines as discriminatory practices or divisive concepts. 

However, the bill specified that it does not prohibit the following:

• Speech protected by the First Amendment. 
• Materials accessed on an individual basis for research or independent study that advocate the defined divisive concepts or discriminatory practices.
• Policies, procedures, or professional development required by state or federal law.
• Instruction on the defined divisive concepts in accordance with standard courses of study that make clear the public school does not sponsor, approve, or endorse any of the concepts. The statute provided examples of these types of instruction, including what it calls impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history and historical oppression of a particular group of people based on race, ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, or geographic region.

The bill requires public schools to annually certify compliance to the Department of Public Instruction, which will report to the state legislature on the certifications received.

The bill also amends local school boards' powers and duties, requiring them to include the prohibition on discrimination based on an individual's protected classification under federal law, including antisemitism, in employee and student conduct handbooks.

Bill implementation

Maurice Green, North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction said that the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) would issue guidance to school districts on implementation. School districts must certify compliance with the bill by Sept. 1, 2026, and annually thereafter.

Green and State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis issued a joint statement on the bill. They said that while they trusted the legislators to support public educators, they had concerns that educators may not know how to apply the bill.

Their statement said, "[W]e believe the law leaves educators with genuine questions about how to apply it, since, for example, it restricts instruction on certain concepts while expressly and appropriately preserving the teaching of difficult history, including the historical oppression of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity and religion."

Zooming out

Ballotpedia maintains research on school board authority and responsibilities in all 50 states. It also contains an investigation into the authority of and constraints on school board policy-making power concerning the following specific topics:

• Curriculum requirements
• Curriculum restrictions
• Book bans and restrictions
• Parental notification policies
• Discipline
• School board elections
• Public school choice and open enrollment
• Charter schools
• Cellphone bans

Learn more about school board authority in North Carolina here.