North Carolina teachers rolled out a list of demands at the legislative building on Tuesday with teachers pay being the utmost concern. The move comes after North Carolina teachers rank one of the lowest in the country in terms of pay.
In terms of teacher's pay, North Carolina only ranks 42nd in the country. In 2015, about 14.8 percent of North Carolina teachers left their jobs while some left their positions permanently. A 2015 report from the Department of Public Instruction said that more teachers are leaving North Carolina to teach in other states.
According to data compiled from the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, North Carolina was called the worst state for teachers in the country. The study was based on factors such as teacher's salary, median annual salary, teachers' wage disparity, public school funding, and safety in schools.
Data from the National Center for Education Statistics conclude that 16 percent of teachers in the country are forced to work a second job different from the school system, according to Huffington Post. Unfortunately, the figures are nearly 25 percent in North Carolina - the third highest in the country.
In April 2016, Governor Pat McCrory announced his proposal to increase to average pay of North Carolina teachers by an average of 5 percent. Each teacher is posed to receive more than $50,000 a year, according to ABC 11.
In addition, educators would receive a 3.5 percent bonus while veteran teachers with more than 24 years of service would get an additional $5,000. Legislators are expected to discuss the governor's budget proposal within the week.
One teacher expressed her concern by saying that she has not felt the effects of the pay raise supposedly passed down by the governor. Angela Waiters Jackson, a teacher from Guildford County said that she has since thought about leaving the profession due to the inability to pay back her student loans.
North Carolina teachers remain optimistic on seeing significant increases for teachers in the state, according to Rodney Ellis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), the state's largest teacher advocacy group. However, Ellis explains that they cannot simply place a lot of faith until the process actually plays out.
