CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Teacher pay is a top priority for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' new budget, Superintendent Crystal Hill said on Tuesday.
Hill laid out the district's $1.9 billion plan during a meeting Tuesday night. The district wants to use $14 million of that to raise teacher pay, especially for teachers who have worked in the state for over 25 years.
Under the proposed plan, starting teacher salaries would see a 4.5% boost. A public hearing on the budget is set for April 23.
School officials say in addition to raises, the new budget would cover equipment for students and building repairs. If the county agrees to provide the funding, taxpayers could be left footing the bill in property taxes.
This hike would also be in addition to the expected property tax hike after the school district’s $2.5-billion-dollar bond referendum passed in November. That's an idea taxpayers in the area say they are against.
“Some people don’t even have kids, but we still have to be subjected to the outcome,” said Tevin Laury. “It’s already hard as it is. We just got out of the pandemic and people are trying to bounce back from that. So the fact that they’re trying to increase property taxes after that is just criminal, it’s cruel/"
Another resident, Mary Jones, says the district needs another plan.
“It’s ridiculous. We’re already struggling. The more they go up, the more we struggle and the more there’s going to be homelessness. We don’t want to see the whole city homeless. I think they should go back to the drawing board and think this thing over more wisely because right now, it’s not working," she said.
Gov. Roy Cooper has made public education funding one of his top priorities as well, but his proposed 18% pay raise for teachers was rejected by the General Assembly, which approved a 7% raise. Cooper, who is serving the final year of his second term as governor, has declared 2024 as his "Year of Public Schools," with regular tours across the state urging the investment in public education.
North Carolina is No. 46 nationally for teacher pay and 11th out of 12 states in the Southeast, according to Cooper's office. His proposed pay raise would have set the minimum starting salary for teachers at $46,000 plus supplements. That would've been No. 1 in the Southeast and No. 16 nationally.
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