On Teachers' Pay, From Glad to Sad

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

O ver the years, North Carolina and other states, troubled or embarrassed by their standing in various statistical rankings, have grown fond of saying, often with a wry smile, "Thank God for Alabama."

Now, sadly, on the important measure of pay going to public school teachers, Alabama can say, "Thank goodness for North Carolina." And so can South Carolina. And Arkansas, for gosh sakes.

Teacher pay may not be the most important factor in the quality of education, but it ranks right up there near the top. All other things being equal, it's not hard to imagine the decisions conscientious teachers or ambitious college graduates will make when they look at the figures and see that they can make nearly $8,000 more per year by going to Louisiana instead of North Carolina.

Many counties, including Moore, sweeten the pot by adding local pay supplements. But there's only so much lipstick you can put on a pig.

Reversal of a Trend

It didn't need to be this way. Starting back in 1997, when Gov. Jim Hunt got the General Assembly to pass the Excellent Schools Act, things really perked up for a while. From a national ranking of 43rd, North Carolina increased steadily for the next four years until it had pulled into 21st place. Average teacher salary had climbed to $41,496, which was a mere $2,000 away from the national average.

For the next decade, though, things sagged dismally. Other states began overtaking North Carolina, which pretty much marked time. Soon we had been overtaken by Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky - not to mention Arkansas and Alabama. Now we rank 10th in the 12-state Southeastern region, and all we can say is, "Thank God for West Virginia and Mississippi."

Some teachers are even sliding backward on the pay scale, as the State Board of Education was told in a report last week. A North Carolina teacher with five years of experience averaged $35,380 in 2009. Now that same teacher gets $31,220.

The Wrong Direction

But it gets worse. In the important matter of salary rate increases over the past 10 years, North Carolina comes out dead last among all the states of the Southeast. The pace of hikes in every other state in the region was two to three times as great as that in North Carolina.

Put it another way: From 2002 through 2012, adjusted for inflation, teacher compensation actually fell by 15.7 percent.

Granted, economic realities make it hard to think in terms of giving teachers generous raises right now. Per-capita income in North Carolina grew only 24 percent from 2000 to 2010 - 45th-lowest in the country, according to the census.

Nor are the political winds blowing in an auspicious direction now. The Republicans in charge of the legislature sometimes seem more enamored of charter schools and private schools than they are of the public kind. They are also looking at ways to reform teacher pay to put more emphasis on performance, and some such changes are overdue.

But we do our children and ourselves a disservice any time we appear to lose sight of the overall importance of quality public education in advancing the kinds of economic and social progress that all North Carolinians want and deserve. And quality education costs money.

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Guy_Forks 2 months, 1 week ago

$31,220 and two months off a year isn't enough? We need to pay more for mediocre results? I wonder how the cost per student per year compares with the local charter and private schools. last I heard in Washington DC they where spending 18k per year per student for darn near the worst schools in the nation.

Teachers and their proponents need to step back and realize that ANYONE can teach a child well. It is not a special skill. Nor deserves special pay.

Talk to any 18 year old about physics, literature, or even examine some of their writing. (email, text, anything) The education system in the US is a big fat joke. I'd love to see a study that shows increasing teacher pay increase student performance- Ad infinitum.

Guy_Forks 2 months, 1 week ago

Oh any FYI the per capita income for NC is $25,256, and for the whole nation $27,915. So it would seem fair to say that our teachers are getting paid better than a lot the parents who's children they teach. Yet they demand yet more?

JimRussell44 2 months, 1 week ago

Wow, wonder how many "Guy_Forks" reside in Moore County, in North Carolina or, for that matter, in the USA.

pgericson 2 months, 1 week ago

@44 -Guy is not alone in his disrespect for the value added provided by teachers. Implicit in the data provided within the article is the simple fact that most state residents are either in agreement with the Guy_Forks of this world or at least unwilling to stand against them. There is clearly no political will in North Carolina to deal with this issue. Last year, by example, the Pilot editorialized that our governor was grandstanding when she called for an increase in teacher salaries.
As as former teacher I can only conclude that taxpayers are either satisfied with the quality of teaching at current salaries or believe that problems with poor teaching would not be addressed by paying more. What most people fail to realize is that we are probably approaching a tipping point where those individuals we want to go into teaching will look elsewhere for work because the lack of respect for the teaching profession -- seen in funding, demands for greater accountability, denigrating of the profession-- outweighs the considerable benefits from making a difference in the lives of children. This will be particularly apparent as the economy improves and more alternatives open up.

JimHeim 2 months, 1 week ago

Guy-forks - Were you an honest person you would have used household income as a measure, as it's much more indicative of ability to pay for schools. You might also account for the fact that teachers have at least a four-year college degree and often more than that. There are those who actually think that education is a good thing and better educated teachers can do a better job. That's clearly not you.

I guess it's time for all government workers (police, fire, teachers, roads) to work as volunteers so Guy won't have to dig so deeply into his pockets for services he clearly doesn't value.