Teachers win a little, not enough, in House budget
Published May 20, 2016
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, May 20, 2106.
It almost seems too easy. Despite all the acrimony in Raleigh these days, the N.C. House made a smooth, fast and largely bipartisan pass through the short session's budget adjustments this week, coming up with a $22.2 billion spending plan that was sent to the Senate Thursday by a 103-12 vote.
One highlight of the budget is raises for most state employees. The biggest go to teachers, who will average a 4 percent salary bump. State workers get a 2 percent raise in the House proposal and state retirees get a 1.6 percent cost-of-living increase.
Most Democrats agreed it was a decent budget, but given the revenue surpluses rolling into the state treasury, many say they could spend more to catch up with recession-linked losses. "This budget does a lot of good things," Spring Lake Democratic Rep. Marvin Lucas said Thursday. "Could we have done better? I think we could."
Instead of spending more, Republican budget writers stuffed more cash under the rainy-day mattress. They added $300 million to the state reserve fund, which will leave it with a record balance of $1.4 billion. Unless they have a better economic crystal ball than the rest of us, we're not seeing any imminent crises headed our way that will require such a cushion. As House Minority Leader Larry Hall put it, "Our roof has a hole in it. Our plumbing is leaking. And we're putting all of our money in the bank."
Well, not quite all of it. In addition to the teacher and state employee raises, the budget will open a second state crime lab and expand programs for people suffering from mental illness and Alzheimer's.
The budget also begins phasing in an increase in the standard income-tax deduction, which will be especially helpful for lower-income workers. It raises the amount exempt from state income tax by $500 each year for couples filing joint returns and by $250 for individual filers.
The 4 percent teacher raise is a good step, but North Carolina is a long way from its goal of returning to the national midpoint of teacher salaries. The state has moved up a bit, but still ranks 41st out of 50 states. At the very least, we should be paying the best teacher salaries in the South if we want to draw the best teachers to our schools. We need to restore other education-related budget items too, like teacher assistants and supplies, as well as more help for growing school districts that need to build schools.
So we'll cheer this budget's progress, but recognize we've still got a lot of catching-up to do.
May 20, 2016 at 10:52 am
Norm Kelly says:
'Instead of spending more, Republican budget writers stuffed more cash under the rainy-day mattress. They added $300 million to the state reserve fund, which will leave it with a record balance of $1.4 billion.'
Wow! Libs are an amazing bunch of people. Whiners. Complainers. Hypocrites. Amazing. But mostly simple whiners. Libs are never happy are they? What a truly sad group of people. How hard it must be to go through life with such a negative, depressing outlook. No wonder I'm a Libertarian. I enjoy being optimistic, looking at life with a good attitude, doing my best to be happy regardless of my circumstances and who I happen to meet or talk to. Leaving behind the mental disorder of sad liberalism is so freeing!
When libs ruled Raleigh, they constantly whined about lacking funds. When a surplus happened to materialize, something libs despise, they would spend the one-time surplus money on continuing budget items. And on top of spending a single pile of money multiple times, libs would go one bad step further by spending MORE than the surplus, insuring a lack of surplus in the next several budgets. How ignorant does one have to be to spend one-time money on continuing expenses AND spend more than the pile holds?
And then to whine that teachers are getting a raise WHILE AT THE SAME TIME PUTTING MORE MONEY IN THE RAINY DAY FUND!! How stoooopid does one have to be to whine about extra money!? And saving that extra money!? Only a true conservative would understand saving money for a rainy day. Cuz it appears libs have NO CONCEPT that rainy days actually DO happen. What a shame that some people just can't seem to grow up out of their liberal idealism into the real world. One would expect someone who writes editorials for a living would eventually mature. Guess it's not always true.
'The 4 percent teacher raise is a good step, but'. You knew there HAD to be a but. Will lib whiners ever stop whining? Will lib whiners EVER be happy? Remember, it was libs that brought us the Duke coal ash spill, regardless of how many times they try to blame someone else or some other group. It was also libs that last actually CUT education spending. Libs CUT education spending. It can't be said often enough or in enough places. LIBS CUT EDUCATION SPENDING!! Part of the issue that Republicans have had to deal with is trying to eliminate the backwards step that libs put us in when they cut education spending. After, and only after, Republicans dig us out of the hole created by libs when they cut education spending, then and only then, can Republicans start trying to get teacher salaries to where they should be. And let's get past the myth that NC teacher salaries MUST be on par with the national average. It's much much much much more expensive to live in a lib mecca like Massachusetts than in almost every part of NC. So, to compare our teacher salaries with lib mecca Mass. isn't just ridiculous. It's actually stoooopid and misleading. Which describes lib schemes perfectly. 'It's for the children' is code used by libs to distract you from the new/updated scheme they are trying to sneak by you. When some lib starts with 'it's for the children', stop listening, hold tight to your wallet, and vote for someone else!
Bottom line on teacher & state employee raises: libs will NEVER be happy with how much is given until they are the ones in control of doing the giving. Then, God forbid we ever allow whiners to be majority again, when libs give a 2 or 3 percent raise, they will shout from every rooftop how wonderfully, marvelously, fantastically they have treated teachers and state employees. There will be no end to 'news' papers, rags like the N&D, celebrating the great work done by their allies in the legislature. If one didn't know better one would start to believe that libs had just given teachers the largest most generous raise anyone had ever given anywhere in the nation. Heck the celebrating could get so outrageous that one could actually start thinking it was the best raise ever given anywhere in the world. The celebrating will be so silly that one could believe teachers were making so much they could retire the same year they achieve tenure! Silly is the kindest word to describe libs. I don't like forcing myself to be so kind.
Rest of editorial not worth reading. Written by a lib whiner. Useless destroyer of good brain cells. Plus, I work for a living, unlike, it appears, libs, so I gotta run.
May 21, 2016 at 10:06 am
Peter Jocys says:
If you pay teachers a below national and southeast average salary, then you will have to cross your fingers and hope you attract and retain quality people to teach.
If you pay teachers a national and/or southeast average salary, then you have a chance to attract and retain quality people to teach.
More work, accountability, and band aid schemes to fix education are beating a dead horse.
And "its for the children" is code that teachers should sacrifice even more ...... taking advantage of their value and belief of why they went into teaching ...... to help others and make a difference. Food, clothing, shelter, and family must and should come first.
If NC does not wake up, then it will ruin generations of young people.
May 20, 2016 at 10:52 am
Richard L Bunce says:
The State goal should never be teacher pay... it should be school performance... and their is little evidence that paying current teachers more would produce better school performance. So unless your calling for replacing current teachers with better teachers that we would have to pay more... discussion over. Actually discussion over anyway as the poor performance of government school systems is a systemic issue... not primarily a teacher quality issue.
May 20, 2016 at 4:51 pm
Curt Budd says:
It's a good thing Norm is such an optimist, and always goes around with a happy attitude. I would hate to see what he would write, which is a lot, when he's not in a good mood. You just wrote 7 paragraphs of a rant about an article that you claim not to have read. And you CONSTANTLY rant on here. Relax. Take a breath.
Why do you hate teachers so much, was your education that bad of an experience? That's a shame. My public school education and public school that I teach at have been excellent.
I just don't understand how on economic issues, even on education in general, you guys rave about the laws of open market, supply and demand, but then you are clueless to the fact that good teachers are leaving our state, leaving the profession, and now not even starting the profession because of NC's "marketplace" for teaching. A major reason is some of the same disrespect you guys espouse on these comments. But anybody can teach right Norm? Go spend a day volunteering at a school. See if you have the same view. And have a great weekend!
May 21, 2016 at 10:08 am
Richard L Bunce says:
Just to clarify, when you say "teachers" you are only referring to government school teachers... dismissing all the teachers in all the other school systems... nice. Dismiss views of parents and employers... dismiss teachers outside of government school system...
May 23, 2016 at 1:43 pm
Curt Budd says:
Just to clarify. No, I'm referring to ALL teachers. The teaching profession. They are leaving NC. They are not entering teacher education programs. These are facts, not opinion.
May 23, 2016 at 11:07 pm
Richard L Bunce says:
... and IF that is the case the market will respond. Students not getting degrees from University Education Departments is a plus...
May 25, 2016 at 1:46 pm
Curt Budd says:
So when the question of raising teacher pay comes up, that IS the market responding.
Where SHOULD teachers be trained?
May 26, 2016 at 10:35 am
Richard L Bunce says:
The history of assessment of traditional government schools indicates that teacher pay and Education Department degrees is not the answer to school performance issues. The government education industrial complex focus on social engineering and maintaining their near K-12 education monopoly is their goal... not parent, employer, post secondary education officials satisfaction with the service provided.
The State Legislature providing across the board pay increases to traditional government school teachers is not due to the education system performance market... it is politics.
Alternative schools for parents given the resources for the children to attend will produce the desired results. Not government education bureaucrats.
May 21, 2016 at 11:05 pm
Norm Kelly says:
First, I do volunteer in school. Regularly. Often. And I not only love the time spent with kids in the classroom, I love the teachers I've been fortunate enough to be in the classroom with. And I had a very good public school education.
Nothing I've said is about teachers. I've not berated or belittled teachers in any way.
But throwing money at a problem isn't the answer. At least, it hasn't solved the problem anywhere in the nation yet. And my point has always been that throwing money at it, as libs are wont to do, isn't the solution.
But, to go one step further, basing ANYTHING on average teacher pay is pointless. It is a futile argument. It has no basis in fact. Did you not read where comparing teacher pay in NC with teacher pay in Mass is pointless. What about everything else? What about benefits? What about cost of living? What about technology? You see, there is so much more to good schools than simply paying teachers more. But libs NEVER NEVER EVER talk about anything else. Wonder why that is! Any teacher that leaves NC because of pay and takes a job in Illinois, has not done their homework on whether the pay increase is sufficient to compensate for the higher, much higher, cost of living in the new district.
Also, you find me ranting against libs and liberalism A LOT! Yes, that is true. Because libs & liberalism must be stopped; must be prevented from returning to power. Their schemes don't work. Their constant desire to raise taxes, constant whine about 'the rich' not paying their fair share, their insistence that the only way out of poverty is for them to give more money to people. Sometimes the free market does work. But it always works better than government programs.
There is a huge difference between 'the establishment' and 'teachers'. I rail against the establishment; what libs would label 'big education'. Since libs hate 'big' things, and add the label 'big' in order to get people thinking that 'big business' is bad, let's do the same thing to lib allies. Big education is wasteful, ineffective, and slow to change. But change is what is needed in big education. Why are libs so resistant to changes in big education? Could it have anything to do with big education lobby?
Don't really have to read much from libs when their schemes are the same, used, tired, failed. So, I might type a lot in response, but that doesn't mean I've read their drivel. When libs start spewing their drivel, ie Chris, I stop reading.
May 23, 2016 at 1:51 pm
Curt Budd says:
I apologize Norm for my sarcasm. Thank you for spending time in the classroom. I appreciate your passion for your beliefs.
However, this article was about teacher pay. And while I wholeheartedly agree that there is much waste in the education system and just spending money for the sake of money is not the answer, the facts are that teachers are leaving NC, the profession, and NOT even considering the profession because of the current professional market climate in NC for teachers. That is why it is so important to increase market incentives(whatever that may be) if you want to keep up with neighboring states. I'm not particularly concerned about what's going on in Massachusetts. But I am very concerned when I see teachers leaving my district to go across the border to SC. Or Va. Or Tennessee. Or recruiters, sponsoring teaching job recruitment fairs in my county to take current teachers to Georgia and Texas. That is a problem.
May 26, 2016 at 10:50 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Sounds to me like we aren't that far off in our opinions.
Regional teacher pay may be something to be accountable to. But national average teacher pay is a bogus measure and libs need to stop ranting about it. Libs NEVER talk about anything else in government monopoly schools other than raising teacher pay. As if that is the be all end all.
One other problem that libs have with pay is equality. There's almost no room for incentives. Yes, teachers who do extra duties get extra pay. That's not what I'm talking about. Yes, it's important to have teachers get paid to coach whatever sport or do band concerts or whatever the extra activity is. But that's not compensating good teachers. Libs do not allow for a better teacher to get a better raise. It's all across the board, everyone gets the same percentage (essentially). I know that the most recent teacher pay raise was based on years of service. Everyone with the same number of years service got the same percentage raise. Where's the incentive in that?
I know when I had a 'real job', I expected and actually demanded that I be compensated for performing better than my co-workers. I argued with my management that I really didn't care that someone else would get less so I could get more. My argument was that those of us who performed better, did a more thorough job at what we did, got more work done in the same amount of time, or whatever the measure was, we should get a larger pay bump than someone who just skated by. And I worked with some who just skated by. So, yes, I demanded extra compensation for excellent performance. And I received it because management realized that I really did perform better than my peers.
Where does this exist in the education establishment. Or, to use lib-speak, 'big education'? It does not. Why not?
And, as a side note, sorta. Are teachers leaving the profession? Really? Cuz there sure seem to be an awful lot of private schools and charter schools around. They have to hire teachers. And teachers aren't leaving those positions. So, is it just government schools that are affected by teacher pay issues? If so, what is it about private & charter schools that allows them to retain teachers? And, no it's not all about pay. Cuz charter school teachers start out behind government school teachers. Not sure about private schools, but a number of teachers I've talked to who work for private schools say they get paid less than 'traditional' schools. So, it doesn't seem to be a pay issue.
There's also too many chiefs for the number of indians in big education. Which simply adds to the cost not to the quality of the education provided. And why is it that private schools & charter schools don't have an issue with discipline, but big education seems to struggle with it?
Why are so many in administration of big education so opposed to changes? Perhaps some of the changes could improve things that would allow people like me, and others here, who have issues with big education.
I know. Covered a lot. Education is too important to let it slide. It gets in my craw, as you can tell.
Nothing personal from me to you. No name calling. No insults. At least, none intended. So if you are insulted in any way, please accept my apology ahead of time.
June 14, 2016 at 9:05 am
Curt Budd says:
The reason teachers have "job satisfaction" at the private and charter schools that you mention is that they teach classes with their particular preferred racial, religious, socio-economic, etc. student groups. You guys keep ignoring the fact that someone still has to teach the "unwanted". Of course my job would be easier if I got to hand pick who is in each of my classes. But I have an obligation to teach ALL students. Whomever shows up at my door, I have an obligation to give them everything I have, whether or not they are open to hearing me. So again, NC better find a way to attract and retain teachers, quality teachers.
No, money is not the be-all, end-all. But it sure makes it easier to wake up each morning and prepare to go face students who may be coming to us with no parents, disinterested parents, drug addicted parents, non-existent parents, over-interested enabling parents, etc.
The students using vouchers to go to private or charters don't fall into this category. But we still have an OBLIGATION to teach these kids and try to break the cycle. You guys completely ignore this group. I'm telling you from experience, if we continue down this voucher road, we are just going to widen the gap of the have's and have not's. And then you are going to have to deal with the consequences of that as those students grow into adulthood.
There has to be a better way.
June 15, 2016 at 11:12 am
Richard L Bunce says:
What you miss is the market will find educators willing to teach students. Communities will establish education systems for their students not shackled by State and Federal government regulators... and government industrial complex trained teachers. It is already happening all around the Country, including where voucher programs are not yet available. Students can watch lectures and even interact with experts in their field instead of being tied to a teaching department grad teaching outside their discipline. Perhaps even Curt will find a position in an alternate school to his liking...
May 23, 2016 at 10:26 am
Penny Sandrock says:
If you are talking about the teachers in these religious schools with no overview why should they get any money. They shouldnt be supported at all with public funding. 2 reasons, they represent a narrow population with limited access and teach untruths with limited views of the world and science. Child are grossly unserved by these so called schools.
May 23, 2016 at 11:10 pm
Richard L Bunce says:
Parents choose them, they do not get a dime of State funding until a parent of a child chooses them. Diversity in education is a good thing. Social engineering in government school systems doing plenty of damage to children of parents without resources to make a better choice for their child.
