Pay Our Teachers First

After years of no raises, the average teacher salary in NC is $10,000 below the national average. Gap store managers make over $56,000. It takes a NC teacher more than 15 years to get to $40,000. Many teachers must work at least one extra job to make ends meet.

Recent legislation has taken the few perks that made such low pay bearable. Job security in the form of tenure was abolished. Extra pay for earning a graduate degree was eliminated. We required schools to adopt the new Common Core Curriculum in the same year we slashed their text budgets. Some legislators have made it clear they want to gut the state’s education infrastructure. But those fringe voices do not represent the majority of us. They are not the North Carolina I know and love.

If we stand up now and let them know we have their backs, our talented NC teachersmay choose to stay. Please join me in resolving to bring teacher pay in NC back up to the national average. Let's send a strong message! Be generous! Act! Buy a T-shirt! Read more about this issue here: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2014/01/northcarolinasassaultonteachershastostop.html

View statements about how NC's teacher pay crisis is affecting our best teachers:

Taber https://vimeo.com/92780737
Stutts https://vimeo.com/92781561
Thon-Lanigan https://vimeo.com/92780741
Christopher https://vimeo.com/92780743
Risinger https://vimeo.com/92780746
Cone https://vimeo.com/92781560

Check out a video made by Culbreth students in support of their teachers: http://youtu.be/9U9Rz8AksA4