Governor Roy Cooper was in Asheville yesterday meeting with teachers to talk about the need for a significant teacher pay raise. These teachers and others have continued to do their jobs with no state pay raise this year even though other state employees have received raises. Meanwhile, legislative Republicans in Raleigh are taking yet another week off without addressing teacher pay raises.
One teacher had this to say to the Asheville Citizen Times:
"I've been teaching 27 years," said Stephanie Knox, academically and intellectually gifted specialist for North Buncombe Elementary. "So my big concern is when I leave, how I'm going to know that somebody is coming behind me. People are not coming up. They don't want to go into teaching because of the pay."
And another educator spoke to WLOS:
"Why would somebody want to go into teaching now," said 25-year teaching veteran Elizabeth Apostolopoulos, she teaches first grade at North Buncombe Elementary.
Comments like that are why Cooper said he's pushing for the raise.
"I heard from some teachers today about how difficult it is for them to make ends meet on a teacher salary," said Cooper.
Governor Cooper’s compromise proposed an 8.5% average teacher pay raise would make North Carolina more competitive with other states and help our state recruit and retain talent. The legislative Republicans’ miserly teacher pay raise proposal is half of Governor Cooper’s and less than the raise given to other state employees.
The only reason teachers haven’t yet gotten a raise is because Republicans refuse to negotiate by responding to Governor Cooper’s compromise proposal that he shared 94 days ago. It’s time for Republicans to come to the negotiating table instead of demanding the budget be 100% their way.
Governor Cooper’s compromise offer can be found HERE. It would close the health care coverage gap, raise teacher pay, cut taxes for people and guarantee school construction while balancing the budget and saving money in the Rainy Day Fund.
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