Teachers in North Carolina may finally get a pay raise when legislators return to session in the Republican-controlled North Carolina House and Senate next year.
Earlier this year, state teachers lost tenure and automatic pay increases from earning a master’s degree, making North Carolina the first state to eliminate teacher pay increases for years of service and having advanced degrees.
As a result of that legislation, teacher salaries were frozen, leaving many uncertain about the future of education.
Currently, entry level teacher salaries in North Carolina are $30,779 while the national average starting teacher salary was $35,672 in 2012, according to the National Education Association.
The average salary for teachers in North Carolina during the 2011-2012 year was $45,947, ranking the state 46 out of 50 in the country with the national average for teachers being $55,418.
Gov. Pat McCrory and legislators said they agree something has to be done to increase teachers’ pay. However, they haven’t been able to agree as to what it should be.
One proposed idea in the Senate intends to link students’ test performances to teacher salary bonuses that would give 25 percent of teachers a $500-a-year raise and include a four-year contract.
However, that plan has faced a lot of opposition from teachers and professors alike.
“My opinion is that the legislature’s plan for the teacher salary is a plan to save money rather than reward performance,” said Stanley Baker, a professor of curriculum, instruction and counselor education at N.C. State. “There will be no annual salary increases for teachers across-the-board. They will reward a select few whose students perform well on tests.”
Student performance will likely be based on how well they score with standardized tests, making the proposed legislation even more controversial.
“What are the tests actually measuring? When you take a test in a classroom, you expect to cover things you study,” Baker said. “That’s a criterion reference test. Some of those tests are made up in a central location by a group of people who think what students should know but isn’t taught by every teacher in every class.”
Baker said this policy could result in a teacher shortage in the future.
“They eliminated the salary schedule and they have been treating it like it’s merit pay, but it’s really cost of living,” Baker said.
Meanwhile, the House is drafting another plan that intends to restore annual pay hikes based on years of service. However, that plan is still being formulated, and it is uncertain if it will even be proposed.
Generally, salary bonuses are intended to keep up with inflation and cost of living increases. According to the National Education Association, North Carolina saw a 15.7 percent decrease in average teacher salary in the last decade when adjusted for inflation.
“What’s going to happen is that people are going to leave teaching in North Carolina, and we are going to have a massive teaching shortage in North Carolina,” Baker said.
There has also been a question as to how North Carolina would afford pay increases. In the fiscal year of 2013, North Carolina was facing a $2.3 billion deficit.
“They don’t have the money to do the things they want to do because they cut taxes in a time that they aren’t making enough to pay salaries, anyway,” Baker said. “I don’t see how the legislature can engage in the new systems, because they don’t have the money.”
