Here are the raises for teachers, state employees and others in the NC budget

This story has been updated with details of the final budget deal.

The much-awaited $30 billion North Carolina state budget, drafted by the Republican-majority legislature and unveiled Wednesday, includes raises for state employees and teachers.

The budget could be sent to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk by Friday, for Cooper to pass into law or veto in the coming weeks. Republicans have the votes to override Cooper’s vetoes.

Here’s a look at what raises for state employees and others would be under the budget bill.

State employees and bus drivers

The budget plan would provide:

▪ State employee raises of 7% over two years, with 4% in the first year and 3% in the second year. The prior House budget version provided state employee raises of 7.5% over two years. This exempts certain state employees such as State Highway Patrol employees, who would be compensated differently.

▪ Non-certified school staff would also get a 7% raise over the next two years.

▪ School bus drivers would earn an additional 2% on top of the across-the-board raises, giving them a total raise of 9% over two years.

▪ Most State Highway Patrol officers would get an 11.1% raise the first year and no raises the second year.

▪ A one time 4% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) would be given to retired state employees.

Teachers

The budget sets a salary schedule for teachers based on years of experience.

▪ House Speaker Tim Moore said Tuesday the budget calls for an average 7% raise for teachers over the next two years and a $30 million rural supplement. Increases in the state’s base salary are larger for early career teachers than for veteran teachers, with raises ranging from 3.6% to 10.8% based on experience.

Moore said Tuesday he would “frankly have liked to have seen more raises,” but “this was a compromise position that we took with the other chamber.” He said he would like to “beef up” the second year raises in the biennium next year with new fiscal numbers.

The Senate provided in its earlier budget version a 4.5% average raise over the next two years. Senate leader Phil Berger said Wednesday “we made a fairly significant move on beginning pay because it appears that’s where we were somewhat of an outlier.”

▪ Teachers with national board certifications, degrees and other licenses would receive additional bonuses. There is also a “small county and low-wealth” signing bonus for teachers, with the state matching up to $1,000 in local funds.

Berger said the budget seeks to increase funding in communities that don’t have a local tax base.

Community colleges and university employees

▪ Community college faculty and non-faculty personnel will get an across-the-board salary increase of 4% in 2023 and 3% in 2024. University of North Carolina employees will also get this raise.

Elected officials

▪ Chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court: A raise of over $30,000, or 17.9%, over the next two years. Chief Justice Paul Newby currently makes $172,278 yearly. Other judicial officers, such as associate judges of the NC Supreme Court (who currently make $167,807) and appellate court judges will also get a 17.9% raise across two years..

▪ Superior Court judges will get an 11.13% raise across two years, District Court judges a 21.1% raise across two years and district attorneys a 13.72% raise across two years.

This story was originally published September 19, 2023 at 12:49 PM with the headline "Here are the raises for teachers, state employees and others in the NC budget."

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi

The News & Observer

Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi is a politics reporter for the News & Observer. She reports on health care, including mental health and Medicaid expansion, hurricane recovery efforts and lobbying. Luciana previously worked as a Roy W. Howard Fellow at Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative news organization.