Teachers could see bigger raises in 'mini-budget' than from actual state budget

Raises for teachers and educators could be coming soon despite the ongoing stalemate over the state budget between Gov. Roy Cooper and legislative leaders.

Posted 11:00 p.m. Oct 8, 2019 — Updated 11:00 p.m. Oct 8, 2019

Laura Leslie

, Capitol Bureau chief

RALEIGH, N.C. — Raises for teachers and educators could be coming soon despite the ongoing stalemate over the state budget between Gov. Roy Cooper and legislative leaders.

Lawmakers have already passed several so-called "mini-budgets" in recent week to get new funding to state agencies and programs that have broad bipartisan support. money to expand broadband access in rural areas cleared the General Assembly on Tuesday, and funding for the state Department of Transportation will likely follow suit on Wednesday.

Other mini-budgets that have already passed provided money to test old rape kits, improve school safety, expand disaster recovery efforts, upgrade prison safety and raise the salaries of most state employees.

So far, however, they haven't rolled out a proposal for raises for teachers or university and community college staff. House Speaker Tim Moore said Tuesday that could change soon.

"I'm actually working on a proposal to do even more than what our budget did both for teachers, community college, university faculty and staff, as well as the non-certified [school] staff," said Moore, R-Cleveland. "We’re still working through that, trying to crunch the numbers."

The compromise House and Senate budget included teacher raises of about 2 percent a year, heavily weighted toward veteran teachers. Cooper said that was one of the reasons he vetoed the budget – he was pushing for larger teacher raises.

Moore said he couldn't provide a percentage number for the raises that would be included in a mini-budget bill because House and Senate leaders are still working it out. He says it would include other education funding as well.

"We also had this surplus, I believe roughly $270 million. So, I want to see that invested back, particularly into public education," he said. "We’re working through those details right now."

Even with 'mini budgets,' parts of state government not seeing new money

Legislative leaders say they haven't proposed a teacher pay bill previously because that's an area where they don't have bipartisan agreement. Even if they reach a consensus, it's not clear whether Cooper would sign it.

"I think there’s plenty of room to agree. My concern with the governor is that he’s kind of staked himself out there so hard on the Medicaid, I don’t know – I don’t know where he’s going to be," Moore said.

Another reason Cooper vetoed the budget was because it didn't include a Medicaid expansion to provide health coverage for thousands of low-income adults.

"I hope, I really do wish he would revisit that, because there’s a lot of opportunity for us to come to agreement on so many things," Moore said.

Cooper spokesman Ford Porter said that the governor proposed months ago an 8.5 percent teacher raise over two years, but GOP lawmakers have not responded. The governor remains willing to work to find a compromise that can pass and he can sign, Porter said, but legislative Republicans must come to the negotiating table.

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