Average NC teacher pay is nearly $58,000, state says. But educators argue many earn less.
North Carolina’s average teacher pay is now more than $57,000, according to a new state report. But state education leaders say that doesn’t tell the whole story.
New figures from the state Department of Public Instruction estimate the average compensation this school year for teachers to be $57,805 — a 3% increase of $1,804 more than last year. But members of the State Board of Education and teachers say many educators make far less than the average amount.
The state figure is based mainly on the average base salary of $50,575 — something that a teacher would get if they have at least 12 years of experience. The state figure also factors in other pay, mainly the local salary supplements provided by school districts that vary widely.
“This is not the story of North Carolina’s financial situation for teachers, and that average is infuriating to me,” Leah Carper, a Guilford County teacher and advisor to the state board, said at Wednesday’s board meeting. “There are people who don’t know that there are districts in North Carolina who have zero supplement. Zero.
“It just makes me so mad. That’s not the number. That’s not the story. If you want to look at my pay stub, call me.”
Call for higher teacher pay
The State Board of Education went on to unanimously pass a resolution Thursday asking for in excess of a 10% raise for all teachers, as well as investments in beginning teacher pay to make North Carolina the leader in the Southeast.
The board also passed a motion asking the General Assembly to approve a six-year pilot program that would pay and license teachers based on their performance instead of their years of experience.
“I don’t think anyone would disagree with teacher pay, beginning teacher pay, average teacher pay need to be increased for the state of North Carolina,” said state board member J. Wendell Hall, who proposed the resolution calling for higher teacher pay.
“I stay next to Virginia, and I can tell you now, Virginia is drawing our teachers.”
The Public School Forum of North Carolina has urged lawmakers this year to raise teacher pay by 24.5%. The group also wants state lawmakers to fund the Leandro plan, which calls for raising educator pay.
NC falls behind neighboring states
Currently, the starting base salary for North Carolina teachers is $37,000 and rises based on years of experience to $54,000 on the state salary schedule. Teachers can earn more money from additional local and state pay.
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt presented data to the state board showing that the average teacher pay in North Carolina in the 2021-22 school year was $58,658 — when adjusted for cost of living. That put North Carolina seventh out of 10 Southeastern states.
“When you look at the average teacher pay being at $58,000, it’s very frustrating because that average teacher pay is teacher pay across the whole state and that is not a fair number because there are some districts who pay very well,” Carper, the 2022 North Carolina Teacher of the Year, told the state board.
Truitt said North Carolina’s cost-of-living adjusted pay of $39,695 for beginning teachers was the lowest in the Southeast last school year.
“We do need to give across-the-board pay raises because our neighboring states invested heavily in teacher pay during the pandemic, heavily,” Truitt said. “And we did not.”
The new DPI report says North Carolina average teacher compensation of $56,001 last school year ranked third in the Southeast. The DPI report didn’t adjust for cost of living among the states.
