RALEIGH — New North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday his two-year budget proposal will include average 5 percent raises for public school teachers annually with an aim toward getting salaries to the national average by the early 2020s.
Cooper, a Democrat, made reaching the national average target a plank in his gubernatorial campaign. For now he’ll have to get the Republican-controlled legislature to go along with his goals. With veto-proof majorities, Republicans can choose to ignore Cooper’s ideas if they want in drafting their own budget. GOP lawmakers already have raised average teacher pay over the past three years to just under $50,000.
In offering a small preview of his spending plan at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg magnet school, Cooper said the two-year investment would cost $813 million but would not require raising taxes. State economists predict North Carolina will be awash with surplus funds this year and for the next two-year budget cycle.
The national average for teacher pay in the 2015-16 school year was just over $58,000, according to National Education Association estimates. Cooper’s office predicts that average will be $62,261 in 2021-22, the school year the governor wants to meet that level.
“These aren’t just investments in our teachers, they are lasting investments in our economy and in our own children’s future,” Cooper said in a statement, adding the “proposal is a serious, multi-year increase in teacher salaries that will get us to the national average so we can show our teachers the respect they deserve.”
House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in separate statements they would await Cooper’s full budget, which the governor’s office said would be released in the coming weeks.
“Republicans have made bold and historic commitments to raising teacher pay in North Carolina since 2014, so we’re excited Gov. Cooper wants to join us in that effort,” Moore said.
Although the fine print in their respective proposals likely will be different, Republican legislators and Cooper could have the same initial result.
Cooper’s office says under his plan the statewide average salary in the 2018-19 school year would be $54,818, including local school district supplements. But Berger has said the GOP-controlled legislature is already committed to reaching a statewide average of $55,000 in 2018-19, citing the current year’s budget law. A new law still must be passed, however, to implement that plan.
Cooper didn’t provide many details at his Charlotte event but told reporters all teachers would get at least a 3 percent raise. That would respond to complaints by Democrats and some teachers’ groups that veteran teachers have been left behind when GOP lawmakers and former Gov. Pat McCrory gave raises.
Cooper’s proposal is a “significant step toward restoring respect back to the profession and making North Carolina a teacher destination state once again,” said North Carolina Association of Educators President Mark Jewell, who attended Monday’s news conference. Cooper, who may need public pressure to get momentum for his plan, scheduled a similar event today in Raleigh.
Republicans recently have focused on beefing up salaries for early-career teachers, raising their base pay to $35,000. They later turned to middle-career salaries.
Cooper also said Monday his budget would include $150 stipends for teachers to offset classroom supply expenses.
Cooper’s announcement enabled each political party to criticize the other on North Carolina’s teacher pay, which most recently was ranked 41st among the states. Democrats have blamed McCrory and other Republicans for failing to bring per-pupil spending back beyond pre-recession levels.
“Education is part of North Carolina’s legacy, but recently we’ve fallen behind,” Cooper said. But Republicans say Democrats are ignoring average salary growth under GOP rule in Raleigh and teacher salary freezes by Democrats when they were in charge during the recession.