Educators concerned pay raises in state budget not enough

The state legislature is proposing a new bill that includes bonuses for teachers.

One teacher who spoke with WRAL News says it's a start, but not enough. Especially for her, an educator of 11 years earning just over $40,000.

"It's a little sad to see that it has gone on for months," says Kilgore.

And time is ticking, especially for teachers who haven't quit.

"I think we are going in a right step, but I just hope it's not too late because we have a lot of people leaving public education because of the lack of pay and lack of support," said Kilgore.

Among other things the state's 2-year budget proposal includes 10.6 billion dollars in total K-12 spending.

For teachers they're looking at a 5% pay raise, plus up to 28 hundred dollars courtesy of federal pandemic relief money.

"What they're actually giving us is a 1.3% raise that is being added in to our current step raise, which is giving us our 2.5%," said Kilgore.

The president of the North Carolina Association of Educators released a statement tonight.

Tamika Walker Kelly says "The budget includes more than 2 billion dollars in new tax cuts. That's a choice to prioritize tax cuts over complying with the court-mandated constitutional requirement to fund public education."

The Wake County Board of Education is considering another round of bonus for school staff during tomorrow's meeting.

"There's just so much to digest and so much going on in this budget that it's going to take us weeks to really pull through everything," said Kilgore.