CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On Wednesday morning, teachers at a half-dozen schools in Mecklenburg County held walk-ins before school began to show their support for North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper as the general assembly reconvened in Raleigh.
Back in June, Cooper vetoed the 2019 budget proposed by republicans, citing the budget includes billions in corporate tax cuts, an inadequate amount appropriated for teacher pay raises, and the absence of a program to expand Medicaid.
Since then, Democrats and Republicans have been at a stalemate, making it the longest in North Carolina’s history.
The bill proposed a 3.9% teacher pay raise, but Cooper and Democrats like Senator Jeff Jackson said that’s not enough.
"Teachers in North Carolina make less now than they did 10 years ago, adjusted for inflation, and that is completely unacceptable," Jackson said during a press conference held Friday by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators.
Jackson said North Carolina needs to raise teacher pay to at least the national average and the state can afford to do so if Republicans make teachers their priority.
"And that’s what this whole fight is about. In North Carolina, you cannot have both. You cannot have your 6th straight corporate tax cut and get back to the national average in teacher pay; you have to choose,” he said.
Earlier this month, Republicans offered a mini-budget bill raising teacher pay to 4.4% over two years. That mini-bill passed in two chambers but was once again vetoed by the governor.
"We’ve got a lot of teachers across North Carolina that work 2nd and third jobs and it’s important to understand we’re not just talking about teachers. We’re talking about our custodians. We’re talking about our cafeteria workers who under this pay bill that was passed a couple of weeks ago, in some cases, would have made an additional $15 a month, so it’s really an insulting raise," said CMS teacher Justin Parmenter, who joined more than a dozen teachers outside E.E. Wadell Wednesday morning.
"We’re out here this morning letting them know that we expect them to do better by North Carolina’s teachers and students," he said.
Cooper’s initial budget proposal included an average 9% raise for educators. During negotiations, Democrats said they have offered different teacher pay plans ranging from 6.5% to 8%.
They said Republicans responded by lowering their original pay raise plan and are now holding up pay raises unless Democrats agree to override Cooper’s budget veto. The resolution said overrides of Cooper's vetoes won't be considered until January.
Without a new budget, the state is operating on funds from the previous budget. Teachers said they’ve started to feel the impacts.