Superintendent wants CMS teachers to be highest paid in NC. How close are they to the top?
The crux of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ Superintendent Earnest Winston’s 2022-23 budget proposal is increasing staff salaries.
Highly competitive pay, he says, will improve recruitment and reduce turnover in a district that has lost dozens of employees this school year. CMS reported 244 teacher assistant separations alone since the school year began in August. Winston also wants to boost the local supplement for teachers so CMS boasts the highest teacher pay in the state.
“There are investments needed for our people,” Winston said in his budget recommendation.
But CMS isn’t far from the top, according to state and national data. And figuring out what teachers make in North Carolina districts isn’t simple.
In Winston’s $1.7 billion operating budget recommendation, he proposes investing $66.8 million in employees, including $32.3 million to provide an average 2.7% increase for teachers, instructional support staff and assistant principals, as well as a 2.5% increase for principals and non-certified staff.
His recommendation is to spend $7.9 million to increase the local supplement for teachers and instructional support staff.
Winston is seeking an increase to $6 million to raise minimum pay to $16.50 per hour for teacher assistants. The operating budget proposal seeks $579 million from Mecklenburg County, an increase of $41 million over the previous year.
“This is a one-time opportunity to change students’ lives,” Winston told the school board this month. “It is critical that our community bring everything to bear in changing how we approach public education. We must do so to prepare all students to thrive.”
How does CMS compare?
Beginning teacher pay in CMS is $41,736, according to the district, and the current average teacher salary is $56,675.
The National Education Association reports the state’s average starting salary for teachers is $37,049, which ranks North Carolina 43rd in the country. The state’s average teacher salary is $54,150, ranking it 33rd in the nation.
CMS’ beginning teacher pay ranks it second in the state, says Staci Maiers of the National Education Association. Wake County is No. 1 in the state with its beginning teacher pay of $41,892. Chapel Hill-Carrboro is third ($41,488), Durham is fourth ($41,135) and Orange ($39,715) rounds out the top five.
In North Carolina, which has a state salary schedule, the variance in teacher salaries between school districts comes down to county-funded local teacher supplements, which can fluctuate throughout the year. Statistics from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction show the local teacher supplement average is $5,123. CMS, Wake County, New Hanover County, Chapel-Hill/Carrboro City and Buncombe County school systems provide supplements averaging more than $8,000 — keeping CMS in the top five in teacher salaries for the 2021-22 school year.
Winston proposes a 10% increase in the local teacher supplement. In his recommendation, dollar amounts for a 10% increase would range from $628 to $1,140 based on years of experience and degree.
For example, a beginning teacher with a bachelor’s degree would see bump of $628. A beginning teacher with a master’s degree, would see an increase of $710. A teacher in CMS with 20 years experience and a bachelor’s degree would see an increase of $940.
Out of CMS’ 19,000 employees, 45% are teachers. The school board is scheduled to vote on the 2022-23 budget April 26.
Nation seeing teacher shortage
Schools across the country are having difficulty filling teacher positions because of low wages, said Scott Winstead, the founder of MyElearningWorld.com, a leading virtual learning resource for teachers. Citing a new report in March from his website, Winstead said new teachers earn 11% less than 30 years ago when accounting for inflation.
Nationally, Winstead said new teachers make on average $41,780 per year, 25% less per year than the average college graduate. If salaries kept up with inflation, new teachers would make an average of $46,762, or $4,982 more annually. He told the Observer Thursday there are varying reasons why wages are low.
“Long ago the standard for low teacher pay was set — that standard has stuck over the last 50 years or so,” Winstead said. “Others argue that while a significant amount of public funds are directed at education, the sheer number of teachers across the U.S. means the funds don’t go very far in raising new teacher salaries. It seems pretty clear to me that if we want to attract and retain high quality teachers in this climate, we need to figure out how to boost their starting salaries.”
In February, an NEA survey showed the staff shortages in America’s public schools are leaving educators increasingly burned out, with 55% of educators saying they are ready to leave the field. Already, there are 567,000 fewer educators in America’s public schools as of February than there were before the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“This is a five-alarm crisis,” said National Education Association President Becky Pringle in a press release. “If we’re serious about getting every child the support they need to thrive, our elected leaders across the nation need to address this crisis now. ... That means paying educators like the professionals they are.”
Raising salaries received 96% support, with 81% of supporters adding they strongly support raising pay, in the NEA survey, which surveyed thousands of NEA members who are educators.
Greg Asciutto, whose been teaching at Garinger High School for 8 years, said a teacher’s pay is just part of the problem.
“You could give me $100,000 a year, but if I’m still working 70 hours a week doing crisis response, conflict management, and social work for both parents and students on top of my ‘stated’ duties as a classroom teacher, for many it’s not worth it,” Asciutto said, “You have to be intrinsically motivated to be successful in this profession, but there’s a physical and mental stress threshold that — once crossed — makes it impossible to continue working in this field. You break, and once you break, you’re not good for yourself or for kids.”
This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 9:05 AM.
