Teachers rewarded by North Carolina with $750 bonus

A fall budget proposal plans to give all teachers a $750 raise. The base salary for teachers who have been in their positions for fewer than five years would be increased to $35,000.

In an effort to combat low salaries, lawmakers proposed a two percent increase across the board for all teacher and state employee salaries. As budget deliberations went on a final plan of action was approved.

The 2% raise proposed by the House of Representatives became a one-time $750 bonus after negotiations with the Senate. A $750 bonus amounts to a 1.75% raise across the board, as the average teacher salary is $42,753.

Salary increases proposed by the budget would affect all state employees, with special provisions instituted for community college teachers and correctional officers.

Additionally, it is now possible for teachers to move up pay steps that would increase salaries based on experience. Pay steps, originally instituted in 2014, require an annual decision on continued funding.

Ranked 46th in the nation for salary prior to a 2014 increase, North Carolina's budget for teacher raises has been frozen for five years.

Changes promote the retention of new teachers, inciting complaints that salary increases focused solely on new teachers ignore the plight of more experienced educators. “I think that that's exactly what legislators feel towards teachers” says science teacher Sheila Wilkerson. “Legislators want younger teachers because they cost less money and they are more amenable to being told what to do.”

Pamela Rohman recently moved from Virginia, a state that ranks higher than NC in teacher pay. Rohman feels that teachers should focus not only on what they are paid but on the more positive aspects of teaching.

"I'm not in teaching for the money. I love my job. I love what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else," Rohman said.

Though Rohman is a proponent teaching for education's sake, she recognizes the difference in conditions between North Carolina and Virginia. “I knew what the money was going to be before I started teaching. I don’t necessarily think that it’s fair,” Rohman said.

Even with the pay raise, as well as the one enacted in 2014, the average teacher salary remains $10,000 under the national average, according to the News and Observer.

In new data taking into account public education spending and average teacher salary, North Carolina ranked 50th, the second to worst state in which to be a teacher.

Wilkerson believes that the $750 bonus is an attempt by “certain groups” to defund public schools and give the funds to charter schools.

When asked for the reasoning behind this assertion, Wilkerson said “They want to make sure that certain parts of the population are isolated - economically and socially.”

While the bonuses provide a long awaited increase in an otherwise frozen budget, they are a temporary solution. The budget, including the $750 bonus, will have to be judged again in the next fiscal year.

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