It's silly to say "many teachers earn less" than the average salary. It's true, of course, but many also earn more.
Dr. Terry Stoops, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, discusses a proposal to change the way North Carolina pays public school teachers. Stoops offered these comments during the Aug. 11, 2012, edition of Spectrum News 1’s “Capital Tonight.”
I have strong opinions about education policy in North Carolina and beyond. Maybe you’ve noticed! I’ve also been researching and writing about the subject for a very long time. During my first stint as a newspaper reporter in 1986, I covered raucous debates about a potential merger of school districts in Nash County, Edgecombe County,...
The North Carolina Legislature released its latest proposed budget Tuesday night which includes raises for teachers and state employees, a school safety fund, and money for capital and infrastructure projects.
Most non-educators believe teacher pay ought to vary according to demonstrable performance. Most public-school teachers dislike this idea.
Among non-STEM graduates, education majors earn about as much as other degree-holders. Yes, education major make less than STEM graduates — but so do most other non-STEM graduates.
Public school teachers in North Carolina receive an average annual salary of $53,392 for the current school year, according to the latest figures from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. That puts the state second best in the Southeast — behind Georgia — in average teacher pay. Teacher salaries swiftly increased between 2014 and 2019...
Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R-Wilkes, said one of his teaching colleagues inadvertently took a pay cut. Elmore is the House Education K-12 Committee co-chairman and the only public school teacher in the General Assembly. He said Thursday, Oct. 31, his friend increased the contributions to her retirement account, anticipating pay increases the General Assembly had passed...
Republican lawmakers are forcing their Democratic colleagues to choose between sustaining Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto or securing higher teacher pay raises. On Wednesday, Oct. 30, Republicans introduced a mini-budget in the House Education Appropriations Committee covering teacher pay raises. A conference report to Senate Bill 354 served as the vehicle for the pay raises....
Rather than chasing ephemeral headlines and dubious rankings, North Carolina should focus on changing how we pay teachers. We need to differentiate salaries by subject, by school, and by performance.
Restoring teacher-pay bumps for graduate degrees would be a triumph of special-interest pressure over sound policy, of image over substance, of hope over experience.
