We are still working on our analysis of the Senate budget. Here is the committee report for reference.

A couple of things catch our attention. If you look at line item 105, additional recurring funding for the expansion of school choice via vouchers called Opportunity Scholarships, the Senate budget allocates $105,000,000 in 23-24 and $163,000,000 in 24-25.

When you look at line item 28, additional recurring funding for the teacher salary schedule, the Senate budget allocates $99,437,586 in 23-24 and $152,666,520 in 24-25.

Then take a look at the proposed teacher salary schedule in SECTION 7A.1.(a) of the bill. When you compare that to last session’s teacher salary schedule, the one currently in place, the increase for teachers with 14 years or more of experience in 23-24 is $20 a month.

I am in the middle of my last many-weeks-long road trip of the school year, and being in classrooms and schools, being in communities where our public schools are our largest employer and our educators are the workforce, this hits hard. It hits harder still as I watch educators cope with the ongoing impact of the pandemic in their professional lives and the ongoing impact of inflation in their personal lives. As a reminder, the cost of living adjustment for 2023 is 8.7%.

For the whole of my career, I have watched the nexus of values, policy, and process drive and shape how those elected govern.

More policy and process is warranted in this moment. Our public schools remain and will remain the school of choice for most families in North Carolina.

 

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