Earlier today, Senate President Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis announced details for a budget plan that includes increased teacher pay to make North Carolina more competitive in attracting and retaining the best and brightest teachers. Sen. Berger and Speaker Tillis shared details of the plan that would be the largest teacher pay raise in state history, providing North Carolina public school teachers an average seven percent permanent pay raise – averaging $3,500 per teacher. Additionally, the budget will increase early-career teacher pay by 14 percent over the next two years to $35,000, making teaching a more attractive career option for our youth. The proposed teacher pay plan will move North Carolina from 46th to 32nd in national teacher pay rankings. It would also replace the current 37-step system with an entirely new base scale system.

While this plan moves North Carolina in the right direction to strengthen our education and talent supply system, we will fully evaluate the plan once those details are released tomorrow. However, the policy outlined demonstrates an alignment with North Carolina Vision 2030.

The business community recognizes the integral role teachers have in preparing our students for the jobs of tomorrow and we can’t afford to lose them to other states; therefore, teaching must be an attractive career path in North Carolina. We remain supportive of legislative leadership and Governor McCrory as they work to support public education in our state. As the conversation around teacher pay reform continues, our team will remain engaged and keep you updated.

Gary J. Salamido
Vice President, Government Affairs
North Carolina Chamber