NC teachers are having a hard time getting enough classroom equipment.
A new poll found that North Carolina teachers spend the fourth most on school supplies in the country, even though they make about 5 percent less than they did ten years ago.
President of the North Carolina Association of Educators Tamika Walker Kelly said that teachers are paying for things out of their own pockets because the state doesn’t give them enough money.
“Educators in North Carolina are spending about $1,300 of their own money, $400 more than the national average,” Kelly said. “We continue to see that rise amongst our educators here in the state.”
She said that the group is asking lawmakers in the state to spend money on school supplies and bring back the state’s tax holiday so that teachers and parents can save money.
Some people have also asked Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Josh Stein to come up with a way to lower the cost of going back to school.
Walker Kelly said that the rising costs are made worse by the fact that teachers aren’t getting paid enough. The National Education Association says that by the 2024–25 school year, North Carolina will be ranked 41st for average teacher pay, down from 38th place now.
She said that tight budgets have caused hiring shortages, which in turn hurt students’ ability to learn.
Walker Kelly said, “We know that our state legislature could make that investment.” “That’s why we are continuing to advocate for that because we see record numbers of educators flee to South Carolina and to Virginia and to Georgia because of that $10,000 pay difference.”
She also talked about the problem of teachers with 15 years or more of experience whose pay has stayed the same. If a teacher works in North Carolina for 25 years, they can make just over $61,000, which is the top of the pay scale.
From year 15 to year 24, pay doesn’t go up, so teachers who have been working for a long time wouldn’t get a raise for almost a decade.