New Pat McCrory ad touts record on education

Gov. Pat McCrory touts his education record in a new TV ad.

In the ad, the governor says teacher pay had been declining when he took office in 2013.

“Then I became governor and gave teachers the largest pay raise in the country,” he said in the ad. “We’ve raised it every year since and our high school graduation rate is now the highest in history. That’s investing in our future. Average teacher pay next year will be over $50,000. And, that’s just the start.”

According to the National Education Association, North Carolina saw the steepest decline in average public school teacher salaries from 2003-04 to 2013-14. While average salaries fell 3.5 percent nationwide, no state saw a bigger decline than North Carolina, where average salaries, adjusted for inflation, dropped 17.4 percent.

That was despite raises almost every year, including an 8 percent hike in 2006-2007, according to the legislature’s Fiscal Research office. In 2014-15, teachers got an average 7 percent raise, though not all teachers benefited.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 3:33 PM with the headline "New Pat McCrory ad touts record on education."