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‘It is and always should be job #1 to try and get our compensation for teachers at a more professional level’

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Screenshot from the House Education Reform Committee meeting on Feb. 26, 2024.

On Monday, March 25, 2024, the House Select Committee on Education Reform considered and approved a draft report to the legislature based on the six meetings they have held since the long session.

Findings and recommendations are included in the report on teacher compensation, advanced teaching roles (ATR), technology and devices, learning loss recovery, comprehensive mathematics reform, school performance grades, Fund 8 and charter schools, school counselors, and principal pay.

Regarding teacher compensation, the report states:

The Committee finds that the State continues to face difficulties recruiting and retaining high quality teachers.

The Committee commends the General Assembly for increasing teacher compensation in North Carolina in recent years through increased beginning teacher salaries, additional funding for teacher salaries in smaller or lower wealth counties, and bonus programs based on student performance.

However, the Committee finds that even with these significant investments, teacher compensation has still not kept up with the rising cost of living, the increasing employment opportunities for female, college-educated professionals, or the pay for other public sector employees. The Committee recognizes that North Carolina’s teacher compensation structure is not ensuring that hard-to-staff subject area positions and schools are sufficiently filled with highly qualified teachers.

The Committee recommends that the General Assembly continue to support North Carolina teachers and further assess compensation for teachers, as well as find ways to attract and retain teachers in hard-to-staff positions.

Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, who co-chairs the committee, said, “It is and always should be job #1 to try and get our compensation for teachers at a more professional level.”

Rep. Maria Cervania, D-Wake, said, “I think we are all in agreement that we want to see teachers’ compensation be very much clarified because we’re losing workforce so significantly.” 

Stay tuned for the upcoming short session.

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