House budget has raises for teachers, but we can do better

The 2023-25 state budget rolled out this week by Republicans in the state House makes steps in the right direction on a number of fronts, but chiefly teacher pay.

But this state can do better.

It’s only the beginning in the budget process – the state Senate still needs to weigh in, then the two chambers will reconcile the budget in a joint conference committee.

But the House budget would grant K-12 teachers raises of 10.2% over two years. It would grant state employees – including community college and university instructors – raises of 7.5% over two years. School bus drivers would see raises of 9.5%.

And it would allot reserves for additional targeted raises in high-demand, hard-to-fill positions at a time when nearly one in four state jobs is vacant.¹ 

“That is huge,” House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters about the raises for teachers. “That’s just – I don’t know that we’ve ever given this large a raise before.”

If enacted, said Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R-Wilkes, the raises would increase the average salary of North Carolina teachers to $62,650.

Moore boasted about the state’s economy.

“North Carolina is in an amazing position,” he said. “It’s in some of the best financial condition that it’s been in any of our lifetimes. It’s one of the most fiscally sound states in the nation.”

The state has a $3.25 billion budget surplus in the current 2022-23 fiscal year.² But despite many new investments, the House proposal would leave $2.6 billion of that unspent.³

Moore told reporters Wednesday that those moneys would go to unspecified reserves – including potential further tax cuts – and help the state prepare for a potential recession.

“We recognize that we are facing some uncertain headwinds,” he said. “And we would be irresponsible to spend every bit of money and not prepare for the future, given these uncertain times.”⁴

The House proposal includes nearly $700 million in tax cuts, including an accelerated reduction in the state’s personal income tax rate.

THE PROPOSED HOUSE BUDGET makes a number of worthy improvements.

But Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget proposal shows how teacher raises could and should be better. Cooper’s proposal would stall the scheduled phase-out of the state’s corporate income tax. He called for 18% raises for teachers over two years, 9.5% for bus drivers and other school support staff and 8% for state employees.⁵

The Public School Forum of North Carolina, meanwhile, has called for a 24.5% raise for teachers, noting that that’s what similarly educated peers make, and that starting pay for North Carolina teachers is 17% below even starting teachers in Alabama.⁶

Little to no mention was made about compliance with the Comprehensive Remedial Plan in an order from the NC Supreme Court in the 29-year-old Leandro case over public school funding, either in House Republicans’ news conference Wednesday or Appropriations committee meetings Thursday.

But the House proposal would make significant changes to funding for a number of education policies:

• Nursing instruction. The budget includes $26 million to hire instructors at NC community colleges, including $1 million for Surry Community College to hire eight instructors from Northern Regional Hospital. Higher Ed Works has advocated for better pay for nursing instructors for two years.
  
  “We know there’s been a shortage of nursing instructors around the state,” said Moore. “And so that’s gonna allow the community colleges to catch up and make sure that we have those folks working.” 

• $8 million to restore master’s degree pay for K-12 teachers, provided their degree is in the field they teach.

• $70 million to provide better pay supplements for teachers in the state’s 96 smallest school districts. (Wake, Durham, Guilford and Mecklenburg school systems would be excluded.)

• Expansion of the NC Teaching Fellows to all subject areas and all state universities, as well as four private universities. 
  
  While the program that offers forgivable loans to aspiring teachers had been limited to STEM and special education fields, said Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R-Wilkes, “We are having some staffing issues not just in STEM areas but across all areas of teaching.” Which begs the question of why legislators eliminated the Teaching Fellows 10 years ago.

• Reduction of class size in 4th grade to 24 students. Elmore said a student can make a jarring move from a 3rd grade class with 14-15 students to a 4th-grade class with 30-32 students. The plan includes $60 million to hire teacher assistants in 4th grade.

• $25 million in recurring funds for the Longleaf Commitment Grants at NC community colleges, which cover tuition and fees for qualifying students. Gov. Roy Cooper used federal pandemic-relief dollars to start the program, but Elmore said recurring funding will make the program permanent.

• $17.5 million for Engineering NC’s Future, which aims to significantly expand engineering programs at NC State University, NC A&T State University and UNC Charlotte.

• $1.2 million to provide child-care grants to community college students who are parents.

• $15 million to waive registration fees for workforce training at community colleges.

• A 2% recurring cost-of-living increase over two years for state retirees.

• A $52 million loss to UNC System institutions for reduced enrollment, which would be partially offset by a $33 million increase based on new performance-weighted metrics for student success and affordability. 

• $2.8 million to limit losses at UNC Greensboro and UNC Asheville based on enrollment declines.

• Restoration of funding for the University Cancer Research Fund at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to $59.5 million a year.

• $20 million in each year for the UNC System to expand offerings in health-care fields.

• $5 million in each year to provide grants to students at seven UNC institutions who are on track to graduate but at risk of dropping out due to financial shortfalls.

• $10 million for demolition of the Administration Building and initial funding for a $65 million parking deck to serve the planned “Education Campus” across the street from the legislature for the UNC System, Community College System, Department of Public Instruction and Department of Commerce.

• $4 million over two years for the proposed School of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC Chapel Hill – a school that hasn’t formally been created yet.

• $4 million in each year of the budget for Appalachian State University’s new Hickory campus.

• $7.5 million each year for UNC Pembroke Health Sciences.⁷

¹ https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewNewsFile/65/HB259PCS_CommReport_2023_03_30. 
² https://www.osbm.nc.gov/feb-2023-consensus-revenue-forecast/open. 
³ https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewNewsFile/65/HB259PCS_CommReport_2023_03_30. 
⁴ https://www.wral.com/double-digit-raises-for-teachers-some-other-state-workers-see-what-s-in-the-first-draft-of-new-nc-budget/20786659/.
⁵ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article272994945.html.
⁶ https://www.ncforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Top-Education-Issues-2023-24-Web.pdf.
⁷ https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewNewsFile/65/HB259PCS_CommReport_2023_03_30.