McCrory unveils new teacher program

McCrory unveiled his new "Teachers At Work" program along with the North Carolina Business Committee for Education, a group created under the first administration of former Gov. Jim Hunt. 

McCrory said "there's a disconnect" between schools and jobs in North Carolina. 

"We want to make sure that we have teachers – have a better understanding of what the workforce demands are, so they can adjust the curricula to to what the workforce demands are," he said.

"In addition, we want the private sector and businesses to understand some of the teacher demands that they have on their plate," the governor added. "It’s a two-way street." 

It's not clear yet how teachers would be selected to be part of the program. McCrory said he expects they will be advising his Teachers Advisory Group. 

The governor also announced he's looking at various options for increasing teacher pay, especially for those just entering the state workforce. 

"One is a front-load option to ensure first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-year teachers can afford to stay in the teaching profession," he said. "Right now, the increase in their pay is happening so slowly that many of them may leave after the first several years, when we’re losing potential good career teachers for life."

He also said he's considering "market-based" proposals to pay science and math teachers more because they're the most difficult for school districts to attract and retain.