NEA: NC ranks 42nd in teacher salary

Make sure to tell your friends that you heard it here first.  I want my after-hours work to mean something.

Last night the National Education Association posted their latest Rankings and Estimates report on their website.  How did North Carolina fare?

• North Carolina’s average teacher salary rank rebounded to 42^nd in the nation this year and trailed 41st-ranked Louisiana by just over $100. North Carolina’s ranking had dropped from 43^rd in 2012-13 (revised) to 47^th in 2013-14 (revised).

• Between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years, the percentage increase in North Carolina teacher salaries was 6.2 percent, by far the largest increase in the nation.

• Late last night, I adjusted the 2014-15 average teacher salaries for cost of living using the C2ER index. When adjusted, North Carolina ranks 39^th in average teacher salary.

• Just over 60 percent of North Carolina’s revenue receipts come from state sources, the 9^th highest percentage in the nation.

• During the 2013-14 school year, North Carolina employed 95,116 teachers, the 11^th most in the nation, and was among the top ten states in public school enrollment. Taken together, the number of students enrolled per North Carolina teacher in 2013 was 15.2 students. The state’s student/teacher ratio was lower than the national average and tied for Arkansas and Mississippi for 25^th

Do not expect the state’s higher ranking to produce comparable increases in student performance or satisfaction among North Carolina’s public school advocacy organizations.  In fact, I would be shocked to hear anything but complaints from those folks.