‘It really shows up in the classroom:’ Report shows NC teacher pay in bottom 5 of nation
By Andrew James
Click here for updates on this story
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — Teacher pay in North Carolina is not keeping up with other states around the country, as shown by a recent report that ranks teacher pay by state.
According to the National Education Association (NEA) report, the average starting teacher salary in North Carolina is $37,676, which ranks 46th in the nation. The average teacher’s salary is $54,8644, which ranks 36th in the nation.
“I think that this report and the data we saw on the report just continues a pattern that we’ve seen over the last 10-15 years of defunding and misinformation when it comes to public education,” State Rep. Lindsey Prather said Thursday, May 18.
Woman hit child in face with belt for wanting to wear skirt to school: CPD Education advocates like Prather say they are not surprised by the rankings and that the realities of teacher pay are hurting the pipeline of available workers in the Tar Heel state.
“We’ve seen the decline in people who are enrolling in education programs in our colleges and universities,” Prather said. “Students are not interested in becoming teachers.”
Prather said she believes there is confusion about teacher pay and raises that, oftentimes, do not keep up with inflation.
“When we talk about the pay that teachers are getting, we need to talk about it in the context of inflation, we need to talk about it in the context of cost of living, we need to talk about in the context of what things look like in other states,” she said.
“Some years ago, North Carolina was a leader in the south in terms of public education,” said Daniel Withrow, of the Asheville City Association of Educators.
Withrow said during his career, he has seen North Carolina slide to the bottom of the list, along with the impacts of low teacher pay trickling down into local schools and impacting students.
“It really shows up in the classroom, as teachers and other staff just can’t afford to stay in the profession any longer,” he said. “We need a change, we need to see funding for education keep pace with inflation.”
Teacher pay is an issue the ACAE has advocated for, but many believe changes are needed at both the state and local levels.
“We either need to be demanding that our leaders fund education,” Withrow said, “or that we get new leaders that will fund education.”
In his budget proposal for the next two fiscal years, Gov. Roy Cooper proposed an 18% raise for teachers in the state, which would increase the starting base pay for a North Carolina teacher to $46,000 annually from the current $37,000.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
