Governor McCrory Launches Petition To Raise Average Teacher Pay To $50,000 On National Teacher Appreciation Day | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Raleigh, N.C.     To mark National Teacher Appreciation Day, Governor McCrory today launched a petition urging North Carolinians to add their name to show their support of his plan to raise average teacher pay in North Carolina to $50,000 plus benefits.

    "Governor McCrory's plan to raise teacher pay to $50,000 plus benefits has received praise from experts on both sides of the political spectrum because it is a smart plan to invest in North Carolina's future," said Russell Peck, Governor McCrory's campaign manager. "While the teachers union and Roy Cooper were willing accomplices to the years of declining teacher pay under previous governors, Governor McCrory has raised teacher pay and increased education funding to an all time high. That's the kind of leadership North Carolina teachers need and deserve."

    Governor McCrory announced his teacher pay raise plan at Jamestown last month at Ragsdale High School in Jamestown in honor of the his English teacher, Ruth Revels, who recently passed away.

    To view the petition, click here.


    Average Teacher Pay in North Carolina Slipped Under Democratic Governors Easley and Perdue, Falling Behind More Than Any Other State Between 2002-2012.

    "North Carolina leads the nation in the decline of average salaries at 15.7 percent between 2002-12." (Op-Ed: Mebane Rash, "Lifting the status of teachers," Burlington Times-News, 12/15/2013)

• "Between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years, the percentage increase in North Carolina teacher salaries was 6.2 percent, by far the largest increase in the nation." (Blog: Dr. Terry Stoops, "NEA: NC ranks 42nd in teacher salary," John Locke Foundation, 3/18/2015)

• Matt Ellinwood, NC Justice Center: "I think it's a good thing... It recognizes a couple of things: one is the idea that we want to be competitive, at least in our region, in terms of teacher salaries, and get up to the top or near the top in our region so we can recruit and retain our teachers...that's really important. I think the other part of it that's a good thing is the recognition that something needs to be done for our veteran teachers ... this plan has more of a focus on that." (Capital Tonight, 4/13/2016)
• Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation: "I'm a fan of this... There are a lot of good elements to this plan... I think for now, getting our teacher pay to be competitive with our neighbors in the Southeast makes a ton of sense. I'm happy to see additional funds for the special needs voucher program being proposed, as well as the scholarships for science and math, students in schools of education, and the bonus for teachers who are more experienced. So I think now that we've taken care of those early career teachers by raising the starting teacher pay to $35,000 a year, it really is time for us to get those middle and late-career teachers and make sure there's funding for them as well." (Capital Tonight, 4/13/2016)

• Increasing average teacher pay in North Carolina to more than $50,000 plus benefits.
• Establishing a scholarship program to attract new, highly qualified math and science teachers to earn degrees and teach in the state's public schools.
• Building on the Governor's commitment to connect all classrooms to robust Wi-Fi by 2018, empowering schools to trade textbooks for tablets.

• Contact: The Pat McCrory Committee
•     media@patmccrory.com