As CMS lauds ‘historic’ performance growth, teachers struggle to make ends meet
As Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools celebrates significant gains in student achievement, many educators who helped make those results possible say they — and their pocketbooks — are stretched thinner than ever.
The latest testing data show CMS decreased its number of schools on the state’s low-performing list from 56 to 32 between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. It also saw marked improvements in student performance, outpacing the state as a whole.
Approximately 39% of CMS schools received A or B performance grades from the state, an increase of 7 percentage points over the 2023-24 school year. Twenty-nine CMS campuses received an A.
Simultaneously, teachers have received no state pay raise this year, even as they wrestle with higher insurance premiums, increasing costs due to inflation and tariffs and less classroom autonomy, four educators at different CMS campuses told The Charlotte Observer.
The teachers requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from the district. They teach a variety of subjects at high schools around the district.
Each felt that they’ve been asked to do more with less, year after year.
These educators said they received emails from the district expressing thanks for their part in student performance gains but that they haven’t heard any concrete plans to ensure educators feel appreciated. One educator who has worked in the district nearly 20 years said the thanks feels hollow when he has to work a second job to make ends meet.
Most of them said they don’t want to leave CMS, because they love their students. But all of them shared they would like to feel more respected and fairly compensated for their work.
In a statement to the Observer, CMS Chief Recruitment, Retention and Talent Development Officer Nancy Brightwell said district and school leaders continue to “acknowledge, celebrate, and express their deep appreciation” to teachers and support staff for their role in the district’s “historic” progress. Brightwell was not available for an interview.
The district is aware of the financial strain educators are experiencing and community members have stepped up to try to lift some of the burden of purchasing classroom supplies, Brightwell said. Recent data show N.C. educators reported spending over $1,600 out-of-pocket on average on school supplies.
“This fall, many of our partners have graciously supported our schools and students through local drives and donations of supplies, resources, and materials to minimize the extent to which our teachers often spend money out-of-pocket to ensure that all students have essential resources available for them to experience unlimited success throughout the school year,” Brightwell said. “While public educator salaries remain a national and statewide concern, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools along with our strategic partners in the greater Charlotte community continue to provide consistent support and advocacy for our CMS employees.”
CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed said she’s confident the board will ask Mecklenburg County to fund teacher pay raises during its 2026 budget cycle. Still, she said the district can do better with collecting educator feedback and using it to implement change.
“Do we have an obligation to make sure we can provide the best working environment for them? Yes,” Sneed said. “So how can we keep them and hold them as a part of the family? One of the biggest areas I think that’s emerging is listening to them and what they need at their workplace and finding better ways to capture that.”
Financial stress
The North Carolina General Assembly has not approved a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. Without a new budget, state employees, including teachers, continue to be paid according to the previous spending plan. That means CMS educators are currently going without the 3% raise from the state the district expected and factored into its own budget for the year.
The state pays first-year teachers a base salary of $41,000, with average starting teacher pay in NC coming in at $42,542. Beginning teacher pay in North Carolina is lower than every other state in the Southeast except Mississippi, according to the National Education Association. When it comes to overall teacher pay, North Carolina ranks 43rd in the nation. Counties can add a supplement to teacher pay within their own district, to raise salaries past the base state level.
CMS approved a budget giving teachers an average 5% increase to the county-funded teacher pay supplement, but it’s still just that: an average. Some educators saw higher supplement increases while others saw lower. At the time the board approved the supplement increase, CMS assumed teachers would also get a 3% raise from the state, which as of Oct. 2, they have not received. Superintendent Crystal Hill received a 6% salary increase between 2024 and 2025, with her pay increasing from $300,000 to $318,270.
Three school board members voted against Hill’s budget proposal last spring, saying a 5% increase to the supplement — which amounts to hundreds, not thousands, of dollars for each teacher — wasn’t enough. The proposal ultimately passed, with supporters arguing it was up to the state to raise teacher salaries.
“We must ask for more money because our teachers deserve it, but we must not absolve the General Assembly of its responsibility,” Sneed said in April. “We cannot supplement our way out of this... We need to put the pressure on our General Assembly.”
Meanwhile, the state adjusted its health plan for state employees this year, increasing premiums and deductibles and wiping out a chunk of the money teachers get from the increase to the supplement.
For example, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree who has worked in CMS for 20 years will make about $65,300 this year, and with the county supplement increase, that comes out to about $69 more a month on a 10-month schedule, or $58 over 12 months, compared to what a teacher with that same amount of experience made last year. But, under the new state health plan, that teacher will now have to pay between $65-$122 a month for health insurance; that’s up from $25-$50 under the previous state health plan. Annual deductibles also doubled for employees on the standard plan.
Educators questioned CMS’ budget priorities, pointing to a controversial $500,000 consulting contract the district passed earlier this year, even after board members asked if it was the most effective use of district resources.
CMS also eliminated 40 positions last spring in order to save $3 million during what district leaders called a particularly “tight” budget year. Educators at affected schools said they’re now stretched thin in their day-to-day roles, with less time for things such as lesson planning.
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 5:24 AM.
