North Carolina’s amazing educators are preparing the future workforce of our state every day. It’s past time we treat them like the professionals they are, with higher pay and more support.
Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week, and I was grateful to celebrate our teachers by visiting multiple public schools across the state to see the wonderful things happening in classrooms from tough math lessons to expressive dance courses. After declaring 2024 as “The Year of Public Schools” in North Carolina, I’ve visited 18 public schools from Hall Fletcher Elementary School in Asheville to East Carteret High School in Beaufort and have seen just how hard our teachers work to set their students up for success.
We need to support our educators every week of the year – and that starts with making meaningful investments in teacher pay.
I know firsthand the work that our teachers put in. I was raised by a public school teacher -- my mom, Beverly Cooper. She believed that every student had promise for success, and she worked hard to teach and guide them. My mom, like public school teachers across our state then and now, worked early mornings, late nights and weekends preparing for class and finding new ways to help her students learn.
There are amazing things happening in our public schools, where more than 8 out of 10 North Carolina students go. We’re seeing the highest graduation rates in our state’s history – 87% in 2023. And North Carolina students earn hundreds of thousands of quality workforce credentials each year that lead to good paying jobs – that all starts with our world-class educators.
But time and time again, the legislature has failed to step up and pay them like the professionals they are. Far too often, our teachers and public schools are forced to do more with less. North Carolina has dropped to 38th in the country in teacher pay. We rank near the bottom for public school funding –nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average. That’s unacceptable.
I put forward a strong, balanced budget that would change that – my proposal would invest more than $1 billion in public schools, give teachers an overall 8.5% raise plus a $1,500 retention bonus and lift North Carolina to first in the Southeast in beginning teacher pay.
But instead of raising teacher pay and investing in our public schools, the top priority for Republican legislators is funneling billions more in taxpayer money to private school vouchers for the wealthy with $625 million diverted from public schools for this purpose for the next school year alone.
That’s shockingly irresponsible. That’s why my Democratic colleagues in the legislature have introduced a new bill that would call for a moratorium on taxpayer-funded private school vouchers until our public schools are fully funded.
Legislators must make the right choice for the future of our state.
Following Teacher Appreciation Week, I ask North Carolinians to join me in urging our legislators to step up - don’t just tell educators we appreciate them. Show them.