NC ranks 29th in nation for teacher pay, 2nd in Southeast

The preliminary estimates from last year ranked North Carolina 37th in average teacher pay in the U.S. and 6th in the Southeast. But after adjustments, the final NEA rankings for last year placed North Carolina at 34th with an average teacher salary of $51,231 – 18 positions behind the national average of $60,462.

NC superintendent releases budget wish list, including 5-7% teacher pay raises

Republican lawmakers praised the news Tuesday as an "impressive accomplishment," given North Carolina's ranking of 47th in the nation five years ago.

In a statement, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said: "The facts don’t lie: Republican leadership has been great for teachers. North Carolina Republicans have increased teacher pay for five consecutive years, and in the last two years we increased salaries by 9.9 percent."

Joseph Kyzer, a spokesman for House Speaker Tim Moore, added: "Raising North Carolina’s average teacher pay to a projected 29th in the nation is an impressive accomplishment for Republican lawmakers who inherited a ranking of 45th from Democrats and consistently overcame their opposition to pass five consecutive state budgets that provided dramatically higher paychecks to our state’s educators."

North Carolina Association of Educators President Mark Jewell wants lawmakers to raise teacher pay even more and says it "must remain a top priority."

“In order to restore respect for the profession, and recruit and retain the best and most diverse teaching force for our students, the state must invest in professional salaries for all educators," Jewell said in a statement. "The state must also fully restore programs such as Teaching Fellows and Teacher Cadet, and implement statewide the Teacher Assistant Tuition Scholarship initiative.”

In his recent budget proposal, Gov. Roy Cooper recommended 9.1 percent average raises for teachers over the next two years, with every teacher getting at least 3 percent. His plan includes raises for veteran teachers and would restore master's pay and prevent teachers from having to pay for their own substitutes when they take a personal day.

"Clearly, Gov. Cooper’s push for better pay for teachers is succeeding, but there is still work to be done to treat teachers as professionals and recruit more good teachers to our classrooms," Deputy Press Secretary Samantha Cole said in a statement.

"Yes, there will be other states with higher teacher salaries, such as Massachusetts and New York and California. But they also have higher cost of living," Johnson said, adding that North Carolina needs to stay competitive with the median household income in North Carolina. "Right now, average teacher salary is already over the median household income but we need to outpace it even more."

In a statement Tuesday, Johnson added: "North Carolina’s meteoric rise in just five years is a major accomplishment and shows our commitment to teachers and students. We must continue to be aggressive on teacher pay and also on treating teachers as professionals in other ways – providing advanced teacher roles for professional growth, better pay for assistant principals and principals, and 21st century tools and support for educators and students."

Teacher salaries in North Carolina are paid both by the state government and, in many counties, by a local supplement.

During the 2001-02 school year, North Carolina ranked 19th in the nation for teacher pay when its pay was within $2,000 of the then-national average of $44,655, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In 2013-14, North Carolina hit its lowest rank in more than a decade – 47th in the nation, with teachers paid nearly $12,000 below the national average of $56,610.

While average teacher pay rankings are one way to compare North Carolina to the rest of the country, education leaders say those numbers don't tell the whole story because average teacher pay does not take into account the experience level of teachers in different states.​