Gov. Roy Cooper submitted his last proposed budget as the top official in North Carolina this past week and as with all of his proposed budgets, he is calling for raises in teacher pay.

“The budget includes an average 8.5% teacher raise plus a $1,500 retention bonus for most teachers…”

And his proposed budget does so much more.

Restore Graduate Degree pay.

More teacher assistants.

Expand the NC Teaching Fellows program.

Those are great things.

But as long as Phil Berger calls the shots in the NC Senate, he will not go for graduate degree pay. He’s killed it so many times in the past.

And if you don’t remember, he has not been very flattering in what he thinks of teacher assistants.

“Research shows teacher assistants don’t have a meaningful impact on student’s academic outcomes…but here in North Carolina this year we will spend almost $400 million dollars on teacher assistants next year. I equate it to an office supply business that chooses to continue to invest in manual typewriters.”

He doesn’t seem to think a lot about NC’s teacher prep programs.

“The truth is we either need to fix our schools of education in North Carolina or scrap them in favor of new and different approaches to teacher preparation. It doesn’t make sense to do both.” 

But teacher assistant numbers, the Teaching Fellows program, and graduate degree pay do not ring as loudly in the ears of average voters as “raising teacher salary” does. Does that make raising teacher salaries more important than those other three items? No. They are all important, but they become even more so when they are all combined together. We need more teacher assistants. We need to restore graduate degree pay. We need to expand the NC Teaching Fellows program. And we need to raise all teacher salaries.

Yet, teacher pay is a more known political commodity in the ears of taxpayers, especially those who do not have school-aged children and do not work in public education.

Berger and Co. know that in this election year to be able to claim that they raised teacher pay would be a stronger statement on a campaign trail. Since his power in office depends on who gets voted into the Governor’s mansion and whether he can maintain supermajorities through gerrymandered districts, the timing for some empty theatrics is prime: give the teachers a bigger than normal (for him) raise and claim the high road in the public arena.

Just remember that Sen. Phil Berger and his cronies have had 12 years to “improve” our public education system.

12.

The number of grades in a standard progression through a public school.

Here are a few of the actions taken in those 12 years.

1. Teacher Pay Kept Well Below National Average

2. Removal of Due-Process Rights 

3. Graduate Degree Pay Bumps Removed 

4. Retiree Health Benefits Removed For New Teachers

5. Push for Merit Pay and Bonus Pay 

6. Removal of Longevity Pay 

7. Health Insurance and Benefits 

8. Attacks on Teacher Advocacy Groups (NCAE) 

9. Revolving Door of Standardized Tests 

10. Reorganization and a Weakening of the Department of Public Instruction 

11. Less Money Spent per Pupil When Adjusted For Inflation

12. Remove Caps on Class Sizes 

13. Amorphous Measures Like “Graduation Rates”

14. School Grading System 

15. Cutting Teacher Assistants 

16. Read to Achieve 

17. Educational Savings Accounts 

18. Opportunity Grants 

19. Charter Schools 

20. Virtual Charter Schools 

21. Innovative School Districts 

22. Reduction of Teacher Candidates in Colleges 

23. Elimination & Reinventing of Teaching Fellows Program 

24. Frozen Salaries For Years 15-24

25. Ignorance of LEANDRO Decision

26. Bad Safety Protocols During Pandemic

27. Budgets Taking Three+ Years To Pass

One summer of “raises” cannot even begin to fix all of that.