Leaders in the General Assembly are still hammering out a long-delayed state budget that they expect to release in June and then vote on shortly after. While much of that budget is unknown, state lawmakers released a one-page document this week outlining their proposed salary schedule for North Carolina teachers.
The information released this week was simply a preview of teacher pay, part of the General Assembly's "budget framework."
What we know
- There are significant raises of 10-17% for teachers at the beginning of their careers. House speaker Destin Hall claims this would raise NC's beginning teacher pay to #1 in the Southeast, with a minimum salary of $48,000 before other salary supplements are added. (The locally-funded salary supplement ranges from $0 in Graham County Schools to more than $11,500 on average in Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools.)
- Veteran teachers would see smaller raises than their early-career colleagues. Teachers with between 15 and 24 years of experience would see a 5.5% raise. These teachers have not had any raise since Fall 2024.
- The General Assembly does not plan to offer backpay. The budget is meant to cover the 2025-26 school year that has nearly ended, as well as next school year, but the state does not plan to offer retroactive pay for the current school year, as it sometimes has when past budgets came in late.
- Teachers also would receive bonuses. Those with more than 16 years of experience would receive a $1,000 bonus, and others would receive a $500 bonus. These bonuses will likely be taxed and likely would not count toward an employee's highest years of income for purposes of calculating retirement benefits.
- The salary schedule is more compressed than before. The current year's salary schedule ranges from $41,000 to $55,950, for a total range of nearly $15,000. The new salary schedule ranges from $48,000 to $59,000, a range of $11,000.
- Teacher raises are estimated to cost the state $528 million. That is less than the $587 million that the state spent on Opportunity Scholarship vouchers in the current school year.
What we don't know
How the General Assembly plans to pay for this and other raises across state government: The teacher raises alone add half a billion dollars to the state’s payroll, with all state employees receiving raises of at least 3% and state law enforcement receiving significantly higher raises. Asked this week how the General Assembly plans to pay for the raises, Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said lawmakers are expecting “to receive good news” from an upcoming state revenue forecast and also exploring other ways to add revenue like rolling back a sales tax exemption on the electricity used by data centers.
The State Employees Association of North Carolina has expressed concerns lawmakers might pay for raises by making thousands of long-standing vacancies at state agencies permanent. In a statement, SEANC Executive Director Ardis Watkins wrote, “State employees are already doing the work of those empty positions. Eliminating the positions does not lighten the load. It makes it permanent.”
- What other school employees will be paid: The graphic doesn't include salary schedules for other school employees, or for teachers who are on different pay scales because they have National Board Certification or have been grandfathered in on state-funded pay for holding a master's degree. Classified staff — including bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and instructional assistants — would likely receive a 3% raise like all other state employees.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to attribute the claim about raising beginning teacher pay to number 1 in the Southeast to House Speaker Destin Hall.
