NC trails its neighbors in teacher pay. Adopting the House budget would put NC in the lead | Opinion

When we talk about investing in North Carolina, what we’re really talking about is investing in our people. And few investments matter more than the one we make in our teachers. Recruiting and retaining effective educators in our K-12 classrooms isn’t just what 80 percent of school-aged North Carolina families want for their children; it’s essential for our state’s continued success.

North Carolina has worked hard to earn and maintain its top spot nationally for both business recruitment and workforce development. But staying on top means thinking ahead, starting with recruiting and retaining the top in educator quality.

Study after study confirms that teacher quality is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement. And like any other profession, competition for top talent is regional. To compete for the best teachers, North Carolina must become more competitive with our neighboring states.

In several national education rankings, North Carolina is showing well above average: NC is 6th in education per CNBC, 12th in education per US News & World Report, and 13th in math for NAEP in both 4th and 8th grades.

However, North Carolina ranks second-to-last in average teacher pay and last in starting teacher pay in the Southeast. While our closest neighbors — Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee — are offering starting teacher salaries that compete with one another, North Carolina lags behind all four.

North Carolina must not allow surrounding states to close the gap with us by recruiting away the single most important in-school factor in education: quality teachers.

Several years ago, the Palmetto State committed to hiking starting teacher pay to $50,000 by 2026. As of last year, it is on track to meet that goal and is now a regional leader in starting salaries. Recently, at an education policy conference, I asked a South Carolina state senator about the impact of their strategy. The response was an emphatic, “It has done wonders for recruitment and retention.”

I asked myself, “How many effective and talented North Carolina teachers are we losing to South Carolina for overall higher pay and a $50,000 starting salary?”

That’s why I strongly urge every North Carolinian to support the House-passed budget. Our plan raises salaries and boosts North Carolina to number one in the Southeast for starting teacher pay. Including step increases, teachers would see an average 8.7 percent raise over the biennium. We are also continuing strategic and targeted investments in programs like Advanced Teaching Roles, which empower effective teachers to increase their impact on students and colleagues.

These are smart investments and simply the right thing to do.

Teaching in North Carolina should lead to careers in which licensed educators can earn enough to support a family. Research shows that adopting a market-based compensation approach helps retain high-aptitude individuals who might otherwise leave the profession for better-paying opportunities in other fields. And, with women composing roughly 75 percent of our public school teacher workforce, any discussion about pay must reflect the realities of today’s female labor market.

BEST NC underscores this in their 2025 Edition of “Teacher Pay in North Carolina: A Smart Investment in Student Achievement”. It says:

“…teacher pay was significantly higher than average pay for college-educated women for decades when there were fewer professional opportunities for women with competitive earnings, making teaching an attractive profession for that talent pool. College-educated female pay has now met and surpassed average teacher pay, making teaching arguably less attractive to both female and male talent pools, particularly for top-tier candidates.”

Those top-tier candidates are exactly who North Carolina needs in our schools.

Additionally, according to a recent Elon University poll, 71 percent of respondents say public school teachers in North Carolina are paid too little. When asked whether they would encourage their child or a close family member to become a K-12 teacher, only 45 percent said they were likely to do so, while 40 percent would be unlikely. We cannot let those numbers stand.

The facts are clear: raising starting teacher pay attracts stronger candidates to the profession, resulting in higher student achievement and a better-prepared workforce that will fuel North Carolina’s economic prosperity for decades to come.

Now it’s time for the Senate and Gov. Josh Stein to join us and adopt the House budget. If North Carolina wants to lead tomorrow, we must start by leading on teacher pay today.

State Rep. Erin Paré is a Republican representing District 37 in southern Wake County.