NC Teacher Pay
PAY NC TEACHERS - As we celebrate Labor Day today, I wanted to share some statistics about teacher pay in North Carolina and how it compares to other states (from Pay NC Teachers – NC teachers deserve better pay):
starting teacher pay in NC ranks at the bottom of the Southeast
NC average teacher pay fell to 38th in the nation in 2023 and is projected to fall to 41st in 2024
NC's investment in K-12 Education ranks 49th out of 50 states and Wayne County's per-pupil spending is 112th out of 116 districts in NC
NC teachers make 26% less on average than comparable college-educated workers
While we’re 38th in the nation for teacher pay, we are 4th in the nation for how much of their own money teachers spend on classroom supplies!!!
If you find this concerning, there is something you can do. WRITE to your representatives and VOTE for representatives who want to raise teacher pay. The following positions are key to this issue:
1. NC House & NC Senate - they set the BASE pay for all teachers in North Carolina.
You can look up your legislators here - Representation - North Carolina General Assembly (ncleg.gov). This will tell you who currently represents you. When you click on their names, you can see their voting history - how they voted on every bill.
2. County Commissioners - on top of the base pay, each county can choose to pay a teacher SUPPLEMENT. This is requested by your local Board of Education, but it has to be approved by the County Commissioners. This year in Wayne County, they voted against the superintendent's request to raise teacher supplements.
You can find out about your County Commissioners here - Board of County Commissioners | Wayne County, NC (waynegov.com)
3. Board of Education - the County Commissioners set the budget for WCPS, but the BOE makes choices within that budget. Obviously, I think it's important to check out who represents your district as well as the At-Large position for whom everyone votes. If you are in District 3, you will also vote in your district this year, in addition to the At-Large position. All other districts are either unopposed or not up until 2026.
The NC State Superintendent of Public Instruction is also an important position when it comes to public education. Information about those candidates are here - North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2024 - Ballotpedia
You can find your SAMPLE BALLOT here so you can see all positions on which you will be voting before you go into the booth so you can research each person - Samples-Combined-With-Watermark (waynegov.com)
It takes a little work to educate yourself on the people you're voting to represent you, but it can make all the difference in the world. For whatever issue(s) you care about, whether public education or something else, let's educate ourselves on who these people are and what they stand for before we go into the voting booth in November.
