By admin 
NORTH CAROLINA (WJZY) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has a decision to make on the state’s long-awaited budget.
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Lawmakers passed a budget proposal last week that includes an average eight percent raise for teachers.
“The budget you see before you…does more to help more North Carolinians than any budget we’ve had in a long time,” said Speaker of the House Destin Hall (R).
But the details of who would get how much are discouraging to many veteran educators.
“I’ve heard a lot of grumbling,” said Amy Tice, a former teacher who’s now with the organization North Carolina Teachers in Action. “I don’t know too many people who are happy about it.”
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Salaries for new teachers jump from $41,000 to $48,000, a 17 percent increase.
Teachers with 25 years of experience get a raise of less than six percent, bringing their yearly pay to $59,000.
There is no yearly raise built in for teachers with 15 to 24 years of experience, meaning a teacher with 15 years of experience makes the same as one with 24.
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“It’s great to recruit new teachers,” Tice said. “I know somebody personally who’s graduating this December going to be an elementary school teacher, but they are already talking about how it’s not a sustainable future. It’s getting hard out there for teachers. I know a lot of them are leaving the profession in droves.”
The average teacher in North Carolina made about $60,000 last year, according to the National Education Association.
That ranks 43rd in the country.
The raises in the budget are not retroactive to the previous school year.
There are one-time bonuses of $500 for teachers with fewer than 16 years of experience and $1,000 for teachers with more.
“We are seeing a choice by the General Assembly to invest more in teachers than other state employees, maybe just not as much as teachers would’ve liked to have seen,” said Hannah Vinueza McClellan with EducationNC, an education news nonprofit.
When the budget framework came out in May, the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mo Green, tweeted he was “grateful” for the “meaningful pay increases.”
Tamika Walker Kelly, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said at the time, “Don’t be fooled. Legislative leaders are calling this budget unprecedented. We call it smoke and mirrors.”
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