What NC GOP Speaker Hall, Senate leader Berger say about teacher march, schools
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- Thousands of teachers expected to march in downtown Raleigh on Friday to press lawmakers.
- The General Assembly failed to pass a state budget in 2025, teachers waiting on raises.
- House Speaker Hall and Senate leader Berger both said teacher pay was already an issue.
Thousands of teachers are expected to march in downtown Raleigh on Friday, a protest organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators.
The aim is to get the attention of state lawmakers, who set teacher base pay and control state education funding. But legislative work is concentrated earlier in the week.
The News & Observer asked House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger, both Republicans, their response to the upcoming march.
The General Assembly failed to pass a state budget in 2025, meaning that teachers did not get raises beyond step-increases. House Republicans have been holding out for higher teacher raises than Senate Republicans. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein is also proposing new teacher raises.
Previous events over the years have drawn thousands of marchers. Wake County Public Schools System, the largest in the state, has a teacher workday, but other school systems have also decided to cancel classes in anticipation of teacher absences.
Teacher raises part of longtime budget negotiations
“The House has worked very hard this whole session to try to get raises for teachers, as we’ve always done,” Hall said on Tuesday after a floor session.
“Overwhelmingly, most teachers from the state will be at work on Friday. And you know, the group that I understand is putting that on doesn’t spend the time they should on teacher pay raises. They’re more worried about other left wing political interests,” he said.
NCAE is generally aligned with Democrats’ policy positions.
The march will circle the Legislative Building on Jones Street, where the General Assembly meets, as well as the historic State Capitol Building. The event is held May 1, when other labor marches are held, but it lands on a Friday this year, which means most lawmakers won’t be at the legislature. It is rare for lawmakers to hold sessions or committees on Fridays.
“Any folks are welcome, obviously, to come to whatever rally they want to, but I don’t know that that particular group is going to move the needle,” Hall said.
“And what I would tell the overwhelming majority of teachers who will be at work on Friday is, at some point, call their senator and tell them to approve the House budget. That’s the best way for them to get to pay for this,” he said, referring to the budget negotiations with the Senate.
Berger: ‘We need to work on paying teachers more’
Berger was also dismissive of the march, saying “overall, my concern is for the parents who have to make special arrangements for their children because the teachers refuse to work on a day that they’re supposed to work.”
On education funding and teacher raises, Berger said that lawmakers want to do both.
“I think everybody’s in agreement that to the extent that we have the capacity, we need to work on paying teachers more and funding education at a higher level. If you look at the last 15 years, that’s what you’ve seen year after year, that we have done that,” Berger told The N&O after a Senate floor session on Tuesday.
Republicans have already gotten the message, without the upcoming march, he said.
“So I don’t know that there’s any news flash that that’s something that’s a priority of this General Assembly, as it has been for the past decade,” he said.
Democrats, however, argue for more public schools funding, and oppose the private school voucher program supported by most Republicans.
