I’ll go out on a limb and say that the editors of the News & Observer are preparing their usual “Republicans are evil” editorial in response to Governor McCrory’s teacher pay initiative.   McCrory’s proposal includes the following elements:

  • Increase the base pay for North Carolina teachers to $35,000.
  • Teachers in steps 8-12 will receive increases ranging from 2.8 to 4.3 percent. Teachers in steps 13-36 will average a pay hike of 2 percent.
  • Professional Pay Schedule – Enables teachers to earn more money earlier in their careers with significant compensation increase opportunities on three-year cycles to be fully implemented by 2018.
  • Career Pathways – Allows educators to earn raises for locally-determined leadership roles, teaching high-need subjects, teaching in high-need schools and pursuing other opportunities for continuous improvement. Career Pathways will be implemented statewide by or before 2018. Local school districts can create a locally-designed plan or implement a plan designed by state education leaders through the Career Pathways Fund.
  • Career Pathways Fund – This $9 million fund will assist school districts in the creation of local Career Pathways that encourage effective teachers to expand their impact and maximize student achievement. This three-year fund will allow local educators and district leaders to receive support as they create or expand a performance-based pay system catered to the needs of their schools and students. Pilot initiatives in eight school districts will form the foundation of a statewide model for performance-based compensation. Eight additional pilots will start the following year.
  • In addition, Governor McCrory proposed
  • an increase funding for early childhood education by $3.6 million
  • salary supplements for teachers who earn advanced degrees in the subjects they are teaching; the supplements will be 10 percent of the teacher’s base pay
  • doubling state funding for textbooks to $46 million
  • a scholarship fund for newly separated veterans that will provide them essentially in-state tuition at University of North Carolina institutions
  • a raise of $1,000 including benefits, which is an average of 2 percent, for state employees

Expect the extreme Left to call it an “election year ploy,” “insufficient,” etc.

The proposal has the backing of the business community, Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson, the N.C. House of Representatives, the Lieutenant Governor, and school district superintendents.