Politics

Teacher pay raises range from .3 to 18%

Comparison Graph

By Bill Moss, Published: July 31, 2014

The 7 percent teacher pay raise contained in a $21.25 billion budget legislative leaders announced this week would vault North Carolina's pay ranking from 45th to 32nd nationally and raise it from ninth to fourth in the South, according to figures from the North Carolina Legislature and the National Education Association.

House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate Leader Phil Berger on Tuesday announced the agreement that raises the average teacher pay to $49,117, from $45,737.
The $282 million investment will be largest teacher pay raise in state history, the legislative leaders said, adding that it also would preserve teacher assistant positions, protect classroom funding and continue to give superintendents broad flexibility to tailor classroom spending to their districts' needs.
Charts provided by state Rep. Chuck McGrady showed that combined with the state's longevity pay scale, pay raises will range from 18.5 percent for fifth year teachers — $30,800 to $36,500 — to .29 percent for teachers in their 30th year — $50,536 to $51,536. (See StepPay chart)
The budget boosts early-career teacher pay by 14 percent over the next two years to $35,000, fulfilling a commitment  House and Senate leaders made in February.

Analysts for various interests dug into the budget on Thursday and some said the large commitment for the teacher pay raises might not be sustainable in light of tax cuts the Legislature enacted last year.

The News&Observer published a story that detailed the cuts to other agencies and the revenue projections that fund the budget.

“The knowledge that there is a higher cost to the tax plan passed last year is not reflected in this budget, which calls into question whether this budget is really sustainable, not in the long term but even over this fiscal year,” Alexandra Sirota, of the liberal-leaning N.C. Budget and Tax Center, told the News & Observer.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/07/31/4042651/budget-pays-for-teacher-raises.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1

Berger and Tillis said the budget agreement also would:
· Reform and replace an archaic 37-step teacher pay system with a six-step schedule and a transparent compensation package;
· Preserve current Medicaid eligibility;
· Provide most state employees a $1,000 pay raise and five bonus vacation days;
· Increase pay for step-eligible Highway Patrol Troopers between five and six percent;
· Maintain funding at current levels for the state's university system; and
· Fulfill the commitment to extend supplemental pay for teachers with Master's degrees who have completed at least one course in a graduate program as of August 1, 2013.