State teacher raises fall short. local governments left to fill the gaps

State leaders have been touting the average 8 percent pay raise they delivered for North Carolina public school teachers, but that headline obscures how the state budget fell short: teachers are still not paid what they deserve and local governments are left to cover millions of dollars in raises.

What did the state budget actually deliver for teachers? 

The state budget set new statutory salary minimums for public school teachers based on years of experience. Even with an average 8 percent raise, the state still isn’t providing teachers with adequate pay.  

• The largest raises went to teachers with less experience, ranging from 10 to 17 percent.  

• Veteran teachers were left behind. Teachers with 15 to 24 years of experience received raises of only about 5.5 percent. The budget also left their salary plateau intact: without future updates to the salary schedule, a teacher with 15 years of experience would have to wait until year 25 to get a pay increase for additional years of experience.  

• These raises still aren’t enough to make up for years of state underfunding. After adjusting for inflation, both beginning and veteran teachers still earn less than they did a decade ago. Average teacher pay in North Carolina remains below the national average, and more than half of teachers report working a second job to make ends meet. 

And the state isn’t paying for every teacher’s raise. The state budget only provided funding to cover raises for state-funded teaching positions. But school districts rely on more than 6200 locally funded teaching positions statewide, to meet needs the state does not cover, leaving local governments to pick up the cost of their raises.

How teacher raises became a local budget problem 

After nearly three years without a comprehensive state budget, lawmakers finally enacted teacher raises — but after local governments had already adopted their Fiscal Year 2027 budgets. Many counties had budgeted for a more typical 3 percent raise, only to face much larger increases than expected. 

Compounding the problem, the largest raises went to less-experienced teachers, whose positions are more likely to be locally funded. These unexpected costs forced counties and school districts to revise already strained budgets and find additional local dollars one way or another.

Across the state, school districts are estimated to need an additional $44 million to cover raises for positions the state did not fund. These costs could weigh more heavily on small, rural districts, where state funding often falls short of covering all the teacher positions their schools need. In rural Dare County, there were 49 locally funded teaching positions for every 100 funded by the state last year — a ratio that is six times the statewide average. 

Without state funding, counties and school districts are absorbing these costs through budget cuts, reserves, and tax increases: 

• Wake County Schools had already cut about $10 million before the state budget passed. The district then had to make more than $17 million in additional cuts, largely to cover raises for locally funded teachers. These cuts left their schools with fewer elementary literacy coaches, less tutoring support, and less substitute teacher funding. 

• Gaston County had to draw on its county reserves to cover over $1 million in teacher pay raise costs. Gaston County Commissioners warned that using reserves to cover these ongoing costs “isn’t a long-term fix.” 

• Guilford and Sampson counties are turning to voters to approve a sales tax rate increase to support public schools. The additional revenue is especially critical in Guilford, which already had to cut nearly $14 million from its school budget this year.

State leaders want to make it even harder to fund public education 

This state budget session not only failed to fully fund adequate teacher pay; state leaders also advanced two constitutional amendments that could lock in North Carolina’s place at the bottom of the nation for public school funding effort::: 

• Less state funding for public schools: The proposed income tax cap would lower the maximum income tax rate from 7 to 3.5 percent, preventing the state from raising income tax rates above that level. The potential funding taken off the table is substantial: at the current 7 percent limit, the state could raise an additional $17 billion each year.1 This is enough to fund teacher pay and per-student spending at the national average and address billions in unmet school facility needs. 

• Fewer local funding options when the state falls short: Counties rely on property tax revenue to fund schools, but the proposed property tax levy limit would restrict how much that revenue can grow from each year — without guaranteeing anyone a lower property tax bill. The NC Housing Coalition estimates that a levy limit could cut local government revenue by at least $950 million a year statewide. For many rural counties, lower property tax values already make it difficult to raise enough revenue for schools; a levy limit would make funding gaps even harder to close.

Public schools shouldn’t be underfunded so the wealthy can pay less  

For more than a decade, state leaders have drained resources from public schools to fund tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy, instead of investing enough to attract and retain experienced teachers. Further restricting state and local tax revenue would make adequate teacher pay and the quality education every child deserves even more out of reach. 

When the state lacks the resources to meet its constitutional responsibility to provide every child a sound basic education, families are left to pick up the state’s tab — through higher local fees and taxes or more out-of-pocket spending on supplies, tutoring, and other needs. But with many families already struggling to make ends meet, not every family can afford to make up for what their schools are missing. 

Instead of asking families and children to sacrifice more, state leaders can ask wealthy households and corporations to finally pay their fair share and invest in every North Carolinian child and our state’s future.