Wayne County Losing Teachers to Higher Paying Areas

In the past week, the district has lost seven teachers. Most of those teachers have been lured away by better paying jobs in a neighboring county.

Wayne County

has 23 teacher openings into its second week of school. Of the teachers who left the school system last year, nearly half took jobs in Johnston County.

"We have had to go through this for a long time because of the military base here, but it's been heightened now because there's a shortage of teachers and we're having to recruit all over the country for teachers," said Stan Alleyen of Wayne County Schools.

Wayne County administrators said starting school one week earlier than everyone else actually hurts them. That is because teachers still have time to shop around for a job elsewhere.

One reason for county's teacher shortage could be cash. Teachers are paid the same by the state, but counties add to their salaries.

In

Wake County

the added income averages to $5,000, it is $4,400 in

Durham County

, $2,600 in

Johnston County

and $1,300 in Wayne County.

"They offer a higher teacher supplement and it puts us at a disadvantage," Alleyne said.

Despite the higher salaries, Wake, Durham and Johnston counties all have teaching positions to fill.