Investing in Our Future

Governor Cooper is working to strengthen our education system from early childhood through postsecondary education and make the investments necessary to ensure that all North Carolina students have access to a high-quality public education. He has proposed solutions to keep our public schools strong and make North Carolina a Top Ten Educated State by 2025.

A quality teacher in every classroom and a quality principal in every school make for great public schools – and our children deserve nothing less.

In his latest budget, Governor Cooper proposed an average 9.1% teacher pay raise over the next two years, with every teacher receiving at least a 3% raise each year, to get North Carolina on track to best in the Southeast for teacher pay by 2023.

It’s been over 20 years since North Carolina passed a school construction bond, and the Governor’s proposed budget supports a $3.9 billion bond to build and renovate public schools and meet other key infrastructure needs.

In recent years, too many tragedies have taken place at our nation’s schools. Governor Cooper is committed to keeping students and schools safe. He has proposed more funding to update school facilities, hire more nurses, counselors, and mental health professionals in schools, and increase funding for school resource officers, along with common sense gun legislation.

For decades, North Carolina’s world-class community colleges and universities have had a reputation for excellence. Governor Cooper is committed to maintaining that reputation with continued investments and ongoing support.