On Friday, JLF’s Terry Stoops was quoted in a piece by Brian Gordon in the Asheville Citizen-Times. The piece focused on Gov. Roy Cooper’s plans to increase teacher pay. Gordon writes:
In his initial budget proposal in March, Cooper called for a 9.1% pay increase for teachers over the next two years. The General Assembly countered with an increase of 3.8% over two years in its budget…
Cooper has since lowered his teacher pay demands to 8.5% over two years, but the two sides remain at an impasse.
According to the story, Cooper spoke to a group of teachers at North Buncombe Elementary School on October 10 and stated:
“One of the things that I heard loud and clear is that making sure that we properly compensate teachers is one of the best ways for us to attract and retain good teachers in our school system,” Cooper said. “And it is critically important that we not fall behind other states, that we stay competitive…”
“When people talk about education being a priority, I asked them to show me your budget,” Cooper said. “And when you see someone’s budget, you know where their priorities are.”
Gordon also quoted Dr. Terry Stoops, director of education studies at the John Locke Foundation. Gordon writes:
Some critics of Cooper’s pay raise proposal argue compensation increases should not go to all teachers. “Across the board raises apply to our very best teachers and our very worst teachers,” said Terry Stoops, director of education studies at the John Locke Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank. “We should have a pay system that incentivizes our best teachers to stay in the classroom.”
Read the full piece here. Read more from Dr. Stoops on teacher pay here.
