The pay dilemma
Published June 1, 2014
Editorial by Greensboro News-Record, June 1, 2014
Senate leader Phil Berger put $468 million on the table last week and dared North Carolina teachers to take it.
They could raise their status from near the bottom in the country in average salaries to about the middle. But they also would have to pay a high price for accepting the offer.
Berger called the pay increase “the largest in state history,” but that depends. He presented a deal. If his plan is enacted, there will be two pay scales for North Carolina teachers — one for those who give up tenure in exchange for big salary hikes, and one for those who don’t and whose pay will remain frozen. The salary difference will be in the thousands of dollars.
According to this thinking, the only teachers who should get a pay raise are those who subject themselves to dismissal without due process.
Not that the tenure system couldn’t stand review and reform. But there’s no examination in this plan. There’s a cynical bargain: If teachers want the money, they have to give up their rights.
Notably, this plan backs off the measure enacted last year that simply eliminated tenure. That action, challenged in court, drew two adverse rulings by judges. One way or another, however, Berger is determined to leave teachers with less job security — even though current law spells out grounds for dismissal following due process.
Teachers are likely to be conflicted about the choice. The significant pay boost would help many stay in the classroom or resist recruiting drives from other states. Houston, Texas, schools, headed by former Guilford County Superintendent Terry Grier, held a job fair in Raleigh this weekend. But, not only does Houston pay starting salaries $16,000 a year higher than North Carolina’s current level, it offers tenure. Better pay and tenure are not incompatible.
The other down side to Berger’s plan is where the money comes from — exactly half from the elimination of teaching assistant positions. The state no longer would pay for teaching assistants in second and third grades. So a second-grade teacher accepting a pay raise would know it comes at the expense of her assistant’s job — and that she’ll have a much more difficult task without that assistant. This may be a policy of reward and regret.
The Senate budget makes other cuts that could have to be repeated in future years to maintain the higher teacher pay as more scheduled tax cuts go into effect.
Yet, it’s not a done deal. The proposal may not be accepted by the House. It also conflicts significantly with the “Career Pathways” teacher pay plan proposed by Gov. Pat McCrory. If Berger considered any of the governor’s ideas, he didn’t show it.
A statement from the governor’s office following the release of Berger’s plan said McCrory’s proposal was “sustainable, fiscally responsible and provides local flexibility (and) was developed through a process working with and supported by superintendents, teachers and business leaders across the state.”
Putting $468 million on the table for teachers is encouraging. The choices it forces are not.
