NC has a chance to rethink teacher pay

North Carolina’s new commission on teacher compensation has an opportunity to move the state beyond the familiar debate over pay raises and rankings and build an entirely better pay system.  A pay structure that rewards effectiveness, leadership, hard-to-staff assignments, and long-term classroom service benefits both education professionals and the families they serve. 

This year’s state budget brought the largest pay raise for starting teachers in North Carolina in the last 50 years. The average teacher pay raise is 8% raise, bringing North Carolina average educator pay to the highest in the Southeast. It happened with little debate, as lawmakers, Republican and Democrat, agreed that teacher raises were a priority this year. However, we still don’t have many policy debates over whether the compensation system itself still works.

That discussion isn’t happening in the state legislature; instead, redesigning the compensation plan is before the new Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education that was established by Democrat Gov. Josh Stein, Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger, and Republican House Speaker Destin Hall. They announced its formation in March and tasked the 29 members with studying teacher pay and what North Carolina should reward in the compensation system.

Over the last decade, most teacher-pay discussions have focused on listicles promoted by the state teacher’s union that highlight North Carolina at the bottom of lists on state-spending for teacher pay. For context, North Carolina funds most teacher compensation through the state salary schedule, while local districts add supplements that vary widely. Still, the debate has focused on average total salaries and calls for across-the-board increases.

This ignores the reality that our teachers essentially work in 115 separate labor markets in school districts across the state. While equal salary schedules statewide can appear fair, they often produce shortages because they ignore differences in demand, working conditions, responsibility, and performance. 

FUND TEACHERS, NOT SYSTEMS — AND STUDENTS, NOT SCHOOLS

This new commission has a chance to reimagine a competitive, more free-market structure. The commission should put party politics aside and reject temptation to return to a rigid centralized formula in a new compensation plan. Instead, local administrators should have a defined budget and the authority (and accountability) to reward strong teachers, recruit scarce talent, and retain top performers.

In addition, teachers should not have to leave the classroom and go into administration to be recognized for their talents and achieve meaningful salary growth. The new system should be flexible enough for individual pay bumps. Consistently strong classroom performance, teaching hard-to-staff subjects in high-need or rural schools, and leading or mentoring less-experienced teachers should be rewarded in their paychecks. 

That said, a complicated system must be transparent and sustainable for teachers. One that relies too heavily on political whim or one standardized test score will defeat the purpose. Teachers need to know what they can do to earn more and whether the standards will remain consistent from year to year.

While this year’s pay raises are well-deserved, the system of how we fund schools and compensate educators is still broken. It’s been largely the same for a century. This is a unique bipartisan opportunity to reimagine the system and create a better one for our grandchildren. Let’s not waste it. 

The commission plans to vote on its first set of recommendations Sept. 28, with an early draft expected in August.