The promise of teacher pay raises has highlighted major differences between the Governor and the legislative budget proposals.
Governor McCrory:
He raised base pay for classroom teachers by 7.1 percent, promising another raise next year for a total 13.6 percent increase for beginning teachers. He also incorporated a pay raise for more experienced teachers ranging from 2 to 4.3 percent.
Senate:
The Senate similarly raised the starting teacher salary to $33,000 and gave an average 11.2 percent salary increase, which would give the average teacher a $5,800 permanent pay raise. To obtain this increase, however, existing teachers would be required to relinquish their tenure.
House:
The House mimic’s the other proposals for starting teacher salary, but offered educators an average 5 percent salary increase that was not tied to tenure.
How they choose to pay for the Teacher Pay increase:
The Governor reduced spending across the agencies to accommodate the pay raise. The Senate maximized the use of federal grants and reduced reserve allocations. The House is betting that doubling the lottery’s advertising budget will increase participation and revenue by $106 million to fund the salary increase.
