Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday introduced a teacher pay bill that would give larger raises to veteran educators, arguing that North Carolina has spent years recruiting new teachers while doing too little to keep experienced ones in the classroom.
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would overhaul North Carolina’s teacher salary schedule, restore extra pay for teachers with master’s degrees, protect teacher workdays from administrative tasks, and give local school boards more control over academic calendars.
“For years, we focused our attention on recruiting new teachers, and recruitment matters,” said Rep. Amanda Cook (D-Guilford) a former public school teacher and the bill’s primary sponsor. “We absolutely need talented young people entering the profession, but recruitment alone cannot solve our problem if our experienced teachers continue to leave. Veteran teachers are the backbone of our schools.”
Republican lawmakers recently proposed an average 8% teacher pay raise over two years. Under that plan, beginning teacher pay would rise to $48,000, while teachers with 15 to 24 years of experience would receive a 5.5% increase.
“As best we can tell, (this is) the largest average teacher pay increase at least since 2006, and one of the largest that we’ve seen in probably the last 30 years or so,” House Speaker Destin Hall said during a press conference last month announcing the plan.
Cook said North Carolina’s current pay structure leaves many teachers with little salary growth during the middle years of their careers, when they often take on mentoring and leadership responsibilities.
Teachers who joined Cook at Tuesday’s news conference said the state’s salary schedule makes it difficult to retain experienced educators.
Caroline Brickhouse, a Durham Public Schools teacher entering her 15th year in the classroom, said teachers can go a decade without a raise.
“If you know anything about the state of North Carolina, then you know that from years 15 to 25 our pay is stagnant,” Brickhouse said. “For 10 years, we go without a raise.”
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Brickhouse, who mentors beginning teachers at her school, said many new educators tell her they plan to teach in North Carolina for only a few years before moving on.
Kelly VanHorn, a Mecklenburg County teacher, pointed to state data showing teacher attrition rates between 14% to 18% during the 2024-25 school year. Replacing a teacher can cost districts about $25,000, she said.
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“Many of the veterans are going next door to South Carolina and Virginia,” VanHorn said. “Their pay increases about $23,000 for crossing the border.”
The measure would also give local school boards control over school calendars, rather than allowing the state to dictate when the school year can begin and end. It would also add nine more teacher workdays. School administrators would be barred from scheduling meetings or assigning other duties during that time.
Cook said the proposal was shaped by conversations with educators across the state.
“The ideas in House Bill 1130 did not emerge from a think tank,” Cook said. “They emerged from teachers, from conversations in hallways, from professional development sessions, from faculty meetings, from the lived experiences of the people doing the work.”
The bill is unlikely to receive a hearing in the Republican-controlled General Assembly, where legislative leaders have already advanced their own teacher pay proposal.
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