The average teacher salary in North Carolina in fiscal year 2019-20 is estimated at $54,682, a new state analysis said.
The salary estimation represented a 1 percent increase from 2018-19 and placed North Carolina second among southeast states for average teacher compensation, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Division of School Business said in its annual Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget analysis.
State funding for public schools from the General Fund amounted to $9.7 billion in 2019-20. Total state funding was $10.37 billion. General Fund dollars have increased by $3.18 billion since 2004-05, and the number of students in that time has increased by 185,131.
“While teacher salary data dominate the headlines, North Carolinians should be mindful of the increasing cost of public school employee benefits,” said Terry Stoops, vice president of Research and director of Education Studies at the John Locke Foundation, a nonprofit think tank.
In 2018-19, the analysis said $6.2 billion was spent on salaries at Local Education Agencies, accounting for 68 percent of expenditures. Another $2.4 billion was spent on benefits, which includes pension contributions and insurance.
“Surging health care and pension costs are diverting dollars that otherwise could be used for salaries,” Stoops said. “Lawmakers need to address unfunded pension liabilities immediately or risk encountering crippling budgetary predicaments down the road.”
Stoops said public school enrollment trends jumped out at him. Between 2000 and 2009, when public charter school enrollments were limited by a legislative cap on charter schools, enrollment at public schools steadily increased, Stoops said.
The number of students who attended charter schools “skyrocketed” once lawmakers removed the public charter school cap and approved more generous enrollment growth allowances, Stoops said.
“When given the option to send their child to a district school or a public charter school, more and more parents are choosing charter schools, and the enrollment trends included in the report reflect that,” he said.
So do the funding totals. Since 2009-10, total state funds allotted to charter schools has risen 291 percent. In 2019-20, North Carolina allotted $734.7 million for charter schools.
