In a new national report on average teacher pay, North Carolina dropped three spots to 46th in the nation. The National Education Association released rankings Monday, based on data estimating teacher pay for the current school year.
Tamika Walker Kelly, President of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said every neighboring state pays teachers more, and , “You cannot build a stable, high quality educator workforce when the state next door is offering thousands more per year.”
She called on teachers to join NCAE's march in Raleigh on Friday to demand better school funding.
Meanwhile, Pitt County students are getting an unexpected day off on Friday.
District officials announced that May 1st will transition from a regular school day to an optional teacher workday due to a massive wave of staff absences. Nearly 500 staff members are scheduled to be out, leaving around 200 substitute positions unfilled. The district says the sheer volume of absences has made it impossible to provide safe and consistent supervision for students.
While the district did not explicitly name a cause for the shortage, the move aligns with the statewide "Kids Over Corporations March."
