Local salary supplements are funds added to the state-mandated base pay of school district employees. Because the supplements are local dollars, school boards may distribute the funds as they see fit. Some districts choose to use their local supplement to address staffing needs and priorities, while others distribute them broadly. For school employees in urban and suburban districts, local supplements offset the higher cost of living in those areas.
The statewide average supplement for a classroom teacher was $4,194, an 8.4 percent increase from last year. While six of North Carolina’s 115 districts reported that they offered no supplement, 99 percent of the state’s teachers received additional local dollars in their paychecks this year.
Wake County taxpayers add more to teachers’ salaries than any other district in the state. This year, the average teacher salary supplement for a Wake County teachers was $8,485, over $600 more per teacher than what the second highest district, Chapel-Hill/Carrboro Schools. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Durham, and Orange round out the top five.