NEA has ranked states on average teacher pay. See where North Carolina stands in 2022.
North Carolina has improved this school year — instead of losing ground as was originally reported — in the National Education Association’s annual teacher salary report.
Last week, the NEA initially estimated that North Carolina’s new average teacher salary was $53,644, dropping the state from 38th place last year to a projected ranking of 40th this school year.
But citing new data, NEA officials said Monday that the report will be revised to list an average salary at $54,863 — moving North Carolina to 34th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The updated figure is still below the estimated average teacher salary at $55,905 that the state Department of Public Instruction listed in a new report that was also released last week. If that figure is used, North Carolina would be 32nd on the NEA list but still well below the estimated national average teacher salary of $66,397.
“I think the NEA’s questionable methodology raises legitimate doubts about North Carolina’s teacher salary ranking,” Terry Stoops, director of the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, said in an interview. “The state’s salary report is a more accurate ranking.
“I’m going to trust education officials in our education department before I trust the figure from a Washington DC based teacher union.”
NC fluctuates on NEA salary ranking
Teacher pay and the state’s ranking in NEA’s annual salary report have been major political issues for decades.
In North Carolina, the state pays the base salary for most teachers and this year added a new salary supplement for teachers in 95 of the state’s 100 counties. In addition, school districts often supplement the state pay.
The State Board of Education will consider a new model being developed by a committee that calls for paying teachers based on their performance as opposed to their years of experience.
The state reached as high as 20th on the NEA list in 2001 but, following the recession, dropped to 47th in 2013. The state’s ranking had reached back up to 31st in the 2018-19 school year.
The North Carolina Association of Educators, which is the state’s NEA affiliate, has for years lobbied for higher salaries for teachers and other school employees.
NEA changes NC salary calculation
NEA officials said they used the best data they had on hand last week when they reported the state’s new estimated average teacher salary at $53,644. Citing the new DPI report, the NEA says it will update the state’s average salary by an additional $1,200.
But the NEA will still report a lower figure than DPI. The NEA decided this year to only count base salary and supplemental pay and no longer include things such as bonuses and vacation pay.
NEA says the decision to no longer count bonus pay is consistent with the group’s definition and the way that other states report their salary data. NEA says North Carolina was the only state whose average teacher salary was lowered because of a change in how it is defined.
“The NEA has opposed efforts to reform pay based on teacher performance and effectiveness, so it’s not surprising it would leave out bonus pay,” Lauren Horsch, a spokeswoman for Republican Senate leader Phil Berger said in a statement. “This ‘recalculation’ feels like a coordinated effort to rank states lower for not using the NEA’s preferred pay scale.”
The NEA used the new methodology to retroactively lower the state’s average salary and its ranking for the past two years. The newly calculated average salary of $53,458 for the 2020-21 school year put the state in 38th place. Under the old formula, the state had been estimated to be 33rd for last school year.
NC should be a ‘top tier state’
Also for the 2020-21 school year, the NEA ranked North Carolina 45th in starting teacher pay. The state was ranked 41st in per-pupil spending, coming in $3,308 lower per child for the national average.
House Democratic leader Rep. Robert Reives said there’s no reason for the state to be in the bottom when it comes to per-pupil spending and teacher pay. He said that, at a minimum, North Carolina should be at the national average when it comes to supporting public schools
“We’ve got the economic ability to be a top tier state when it comes to educational spending,” Reives said in an interview. “I think we’ve got the population to support it. I think we’ve got the tax base to support it.”
But Horsch, the spokeswoman for Berger, pointed to how DPI shows North Carolina ranks third in the Southeast for average teacher pay.
“Republicans have done away with the Democrats’ rollercoaster budgeting that led to teacher pay cuts and freezes during lean years,” Horsch said. “As a result, North Carolina teachers have received consistent pay raises since Republicans gained control of the General Assembly a decade ago.”
News researcher David Raynor contributed.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 7:00 AM with the headline "NEA has ranked states on average teacher pay. See where North Carolina stands in 2022.."
