On first glance, the amounts of the raises are shocking.
They range from $13,750 to $87,872 annually. On a percentage basis, they extend from 8 percent to 102 percent. They total $1.2 million.
But no, the state isn’t finally compensating our hard-working teachers. The raises, the result of a new compensation plan adopted by state Treasurer Janet Cowell’s office, are going to 25 investment professionals, the McClatchy news service reported.
One portfolio manager saw an increase of $87,872 to $173,800; a chief investment officer’s salary has gone from $351,000 to $380,375. Many North Carolinians don’t make those raise amounts in a whole year.
These employees help make investments for the $90 billion state pension fund, which provides retirement benefits for more than 900,000 state employees, including teachers.
We certainly want the state pension fund to be managed well. And in the vast scheme of things, the extra $1.2 million is a drop in the bucket.
But even after context is provided, it’s disturbing that the raises were authorized by the same state legislators who can’t find a way to adequately compensate the majority of our state’s teachers.
As Alexandra Sirota, director of the liberal N.C. Budget & Tax Center, put it in a conversation with McClatchy, “while the decision to shift to market-based (compensation) in the Treasury may be a good policy move in order to retain top talent, it raises a lot of questions about why such an approach isn’t being used for the classroom as well, for example.”
The state budget approved the raises as a way of retaining “employees possessing specialized skills or knowledge” who might be lured away by promises of better pay elsewhere.
So why doesn’t that argument apply to our teachers? Except for a few token situations, most of our teachers have had no raises in years. We’re bleeding them to other states that are willing to compensate them fairly.
The raises are part of the treasurer’s efforts to reduce the fees it pays outside money managers. That’s a legitimate consideration. We surely wouldn’t want to see another situation like the one that existed with former Secretary Aldona Wos’ Department of Health and Human Services, which paid exorbitant fees for outside consultants rather than accomplishing its work on its own.
Maybe these treasurer employees are worth their pay. But other state employees, including teachers, prison guards and highway patrolmen, deserve the same appreciation for their hard work. Some of these front-line warriors are struggling to make ends meet, like the state troopers who filed suit in November who have had no raises since 2009. Many of them have had to apply for food stamps and take second jobs just to make ends meet.
The people at the top of the totem pole tend to find ways to get by without too much trouble. If they deserve raises, surely state workers on the lower levels do as well.
