From Smoky Mountain News:
by Holly Kays
It took nearly two months of conferencing, but a state budget bill is finally passed and signed. At the heart of that drawn-out process was education funding. Specifically, what state Republicans are hailing as the largest raise in history for North Carolina teachers.
“The priority for our budget this year was for education and to put more money in K through 12 and to get beginning teachers up to speed salary-wise,” said Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin. “We tried to give everybody a raise, but our emphasis was on teachers. We believe the most important person in the school is the kids and the second most important is the teachers.”
The new budget gives beginning teachers a 7 percent jump in salary from their current levels, bringing the starting salary for North Carolina teachers from $30,000 up to $33,000. Republican lawmakers have said they want to get that starting number up to $35,000 next year.
Read full article here.
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