It’s been a week—well, really a good seven years— of ups and mostly downs for North Carolina teachers, who haven’t seen a raise in at least that long, as surely as the class sizes have been growing and the resources waning.
Last week Senate president pro tempore Phil Berger announced that the Senate budget would increase teachers’ pay by 11 percent, a salary hike of $5,800 on average.
But the only way teachers could access the pay increase would be by giving up their tenure—what little job security they have in the least unionized state in the nation.
Oh, and second and third grade teachers would have to kiss their teaching assistants good-bye, because how else could the state afford to raise their salaries?
This weekend, the Houston Independent school district held a job fair at a Raleigh hotel. More than 300 teachers— tempted by the promise of a $46,805 starting salary, $16,000 more than that of the 47th worst paying state for teachers in nation—reportedly attended.
We already know that teacher turnover is increasing in Wake County Schools.
Today, maybe in an effort to avoid a mass exodus of teachers to Texas, the Wake County Board of Commissioners is saying it wants Wake County Public Schools to be the top-paying school district in the state for teachers.
Wake County already tacks on an extra $6,200 to teachers’ state funded salaries, and the Wake County Board of Education approved 3.5 percent pay raise for teachers in its operating budget last month.
The Board is expected to tackle teacher salaries at a June 9 work session. There’s a budget public hearing at 7 this evening; proponents of education are encouraged to attend.
