Ferrel Guillory in today’s EdNC.org posting talked about the Blue Ribbon Commission’s recent discussion that turned quickly to discussing teacher pay.

At their fourth monthly session on Monday, members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education engaged in a spontaneous, unscripted discussion over the pay of North Carolina public school teachers that ranks in the bottom 10 among states.

“There just needs to be an acknowledgement that if we’re going to address teacher compensation that it is going to cost us to fix the problem that has built up over the last several years,” said Robert Taylor, superintendent of Wake County Schools.

The commission is moving toward adopting a set of recommendations on student advancement, early literacy, teacher training, and accountability measures in September. While increasing the supply of high-quality educators has been a focus, the commission has not had teacher pay as an explicit agenda item.

And what Lisa Godwin said was spot on. Godwin was the NC Teacher of the Year in 2017 and is one of the few NCTOY who went back to the classroom to keep teaching.

Just imagine what the NC average teacher pay would be without national board certification pay bumps in this state. It’s the only way to get an increase in salary while teaching that is not governed by the “gerrymandered” salary schedule that is sometimes changed by the NC General Assembly when they decide to pass a budget.

From the the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards:

North Carolina has led the nation for quite a long time with the number of NBCT’s in our schools. Those still in the classroom make up over 11.50% of current teachers in public schools.

When Godwin speaks of “revisiting the past” she references bonuses (longevity pay) and yearly step increases in pay. Note also that due-process rights, graduate degree pay increases, professional development with stipends, and medical coverage for retirees were all avaialible to teachers before 2014.

But not now.