Hall shakes hands after speaking at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance on Thursday. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, a Republican, emphasized to the Charlotte business community Thursday that he is eager to raise starting teacher pay to $50,000, or "number one in the South," as the General Assembly works past a budget impasse this short session.
Why it matters: North Carolina ranks abysmally low in public school funding, landing at 39th in the nation for average starting teacher salary ($42,542) and 37th in per-pupil funding, per the National Education Association.
What they're saying: "North Carolina is number one in business, last in per pupil spending," Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board chair Stephanie Sneed told Hall during a Q&A at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance on Thursday. "I don't think that trend can continue if we keep having that gap."
Hall told Sneed he agreed: "That's mainly what the fight, so to speak, has been about. We could have had a budget a year ago, but it wouldn't, in my judgment, have done much to fix those issues."
Hall said teacher pay is especially a concern for border counties like Mecklenburg that have to compete with other states for educators.
"They may raise pay some, and a starting teacher might make $10,000 more dollars per year if they go across the line," Hall said.
The speaker added that the state should be able to afford adequate public school funding and private school vouchers.
Reality check: The competition isn't too stiff since the rest of the South is also relatively low for starting teacher pay.
NEA ranks South Carolina 30th, paying an average of $44,693.
Tennessee is 29th at $44,897.
Georgia is in the 35th slot, paying around $43,654.
Florida is 17th ($48,639), and Virginia is 16th ($48,666).
