NC teacher pay now ranks 43rd

What will it take to make state legislators wake up?

The National Education Association released its annual report on teacher pay this week, which found that average teacher pay in North Carolina slid five spots, from 38th to 43rd in the nation.

Other states are investing in public school teachers. And North Carolina is not keeping up.

Its average teacher pay of $58,292 in 2023-24 was less than all its neighboring states, and $13,738 less than the national average.¹ The organization projects that North Carolina will fall to 44th this year.²

How’s that as a motivator for the folks who teach the vast majority of our children?

It’s an embarrassment to this state – for those who can recall it – that has a tradition of support for public education and a constitutional guarantee of a “sound basic education” for every child.

What’s less understandable is why North Carolina voters don’t hold state legislators accountable for repeatedly failing to fund our public schools as they shovel hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into vouchers for private schools – with no limits on the household income of students who receive the free tickets to private school.³

In particular, that creates a drain for rural counties that have few or no private schools at all – their tax dollars are flowing to private schools in metropolitan Raleigh and Charlotte.⁴

How does that make any sense whatsoever?

THE REPORT FOUND that North Carolina did climb three slots in rankings of starting teacher pay, to 39th in the nation.

Legislators have attempted to raise starting teacher pay in recent years, to an average starting salary of $42,542 – still $4,000 less than the national average starting pay.⁵

But that’s still nothing to boast about.

Legislators are not doing enough.

One in 10 North Carolina public school teachers left their jobs last year. Enrollment in public colleges of education has fallen dramatically. And often because they have no alternative, local districts are hiring more and more uncertified teachers.⁶

There are miraculous teachers all over this state who do amazing things with limited resources. But would you want your child to become a public school teacher in this state right now?

“The challenges we face in staffing our classrooms and providing students with qualified, dedicated teachers and staff are a direct result of our failure to invest adequately in those who educate and care for our children,” said Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the NC Association of Teachers.⁷

The budget proposal the N.C. Senate passed two weeks ago would give teachers a 3.3% raise and $3,000 in bonuses over the next two years.⁸

With continued inflation and a possible recession on the horizon, that doesn’t help them keep up.

“If we want for our kids to have the highest quality people in the school building with them every single day, then we need to shift our state’s priorities,” said NCAE Vice President Bryan Proffitt.⁹

Hope in the House?

Gov. Josh Stein proposed to raise average teacher pay by 10.6% over two years and raise starting teacher pay to $53,000.¹⁰

“It is an embarrassment, and it does not need to be,” Stein said recently.¹¹

The state House will roll out its proposed budget next.

A bipartisan group of House members filed legislation this spring to spend $1.6 billion to raise teacher pay in North Carolina by $9,000 to $12,000 – an average of 22%, depending on years of experience.

Under that proposal, starting teacher pay would increase from $41,000 to $50,000. Pay for teachers with at least 25 years’ experience would increase to an average of $68,230. And the measure would restore extra pay for teachers with master’s degrees in the subject they teach.¹²

1 https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-04-29/teacher-pay-ranking-drops.
2 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article305299751.html.
3 https://publicedworks.org/2025/04/public-schools-face-deficits-while-private-schools-profit/.
4 https://publicedworks.org/2025/04/rural-resistance-county-leaders-question-private-school-vouchers/.
5 https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-04-29/teacher-pay-ranking-drops.
6 https://www.wral.com/news/education/nc-teacher-turnover-down-but-profession-has-changed-new-data-shows-april-2025/.
7 https://www.ncae.org/about-ncae/media-center/press-releases/north-carolina-drops-five-spots-annual-teacher-salary-rankings.
8 https://publicedworks.org/2025/04/paltry/.
9 https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-04-29/teacher-pay-ranking-drops.
10 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article304034836.html.
11 https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2025/03/20/gov-josh-stein-visits-fayetteville-nc-to-talk-about-education-plan/82541671007/.
12 https://www.wral.com/news/education/nc-teacher-pay-would-rise-9000-12000-under-new-bill-february-2025/; https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article301495514.html.