By John Hood
RALEIGH — During the just-ended 2024 election campaign, candidates for offices such as governor, legislature, county commission, and state superintendent of public instruction talked a lot about raising the pay of public schoolteachers in our state — as well they should have.
Even after adjusting for living costs, for example, the average first-year teacher makes nearly $1,000 more in Georgia than in North Carolina, $2,000 more in South Carolina, $2,500 more in Florida, and $8,000 (!) more in Texas.
Now, the pay differences aren’t as pronounced at other levels of teacher experience. Nor are North Carolina public schools primarily vying with districts in other states for talent. What these data really tell us is that school districts in other states are competing more aggressively for folks who might otherwise choose to work in other education jobs — inside or outside their home states — or pursue other careers entirely.
Teacher compensation is, obviously, a fiscal question. The General Assembly has enacted raises in recent years and needs to do more. But it isn’t only a fiscal question. As the education-reform group BEST NC put it in a recent report, the problem “is not just about how much teachers are paid, but also how that pay is structured.”
I’ve already spotlighted one flaw in North Carolina’s approach: we set starting salaries comparatively low and then gradually raise them through annual steps. As a result, we’re making early-career teachers wait too long to get to a reasonable level of compensation. We ought to flatten the pay curve more than we already have.
By no means, however, do I mean to suggest that mid-career teachers ought to have no paths to meaningful boosts in their compensation. What most academic research on the subject demonstrates, and what the BEST NC report recommends, is that pay in North Carolina ought to be much more differentiated. Those who teach hard-to-staff subjects such as science and advanced math should be paid significantly more than other teachers, as should those who teach in hard-to-staff schools with rates of student disadvantage, those who take on greater responsibilities such as training other teachers, and those whose evaluations show consistently high performance.
An innovative study just released by the National Bureau of Economic Research confirms many of these insights. Andrew Johnson, an economist at the University of California-Merced, presented a series of compensation offers to teachers in a large school district in Texas. The offers varied in salary, benefits, and working conditions. By receiving and assessing teacher responses, the study allowed Johnson to estimate dollar values for alternative approaches.
One finding particularly stood out to me: while the participating teachers did, all other things being equal, prefer to teach smaller classes instead of larger ones, the preference wasn’t all that strong. “The cost of reducing class size is seven times greater than teachers’ willingness-to-pay,” Johnson wrote. Similarly, the average value teachers placed on teacher assistance was less than the cost of hiring a teacher assistant at minimum wage. On the other hand, the respondents placed a high value on working for a “supportive” principal who backs them up when disciplining unruly students.
As for non-wage benefits, the study found the value teachers put on a traditional defined-benefit pension was lower than its cost. Respondents showed a greater preference for a defined-contribution approach, perhaps because they saw it as more consistent with future changes in jobs or careers. As it happens, the BEST NC model recommends that North Carolina offer our teachers more options that “provide higher take-home pay in exchange for lesser retirement contributions.”
Finally, the study found that teachers valued performance-based pay, although they tended to prefer a blended model rather than one focused solely on value-added test scores. Based on these findings, school districts often “underutilize salary and performance pay while overutilizing retirement benefits” when competing for teachers, Johnson concluded. “Restructuring compensation can significantly improve both teacher welfare and student achievement.”
That’s precisely the course North Carolina policymakers should pursue in 2025 and beyond.
John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member. His latest books, Mountain Folk and Forest Folk, combine epic fantasy with early American history (FolkloreCycle.com).
Former teacher here…the problems are…
1. Violence in schools. Teachers are expected to break up fights and stand between kids that are bigger and stronger than they are.
2. Disrespect. Students use profanity towards teachers, are disruptive, threaten teachers, and simply have zero respect for anyone is an authoritative position.
3. Weak accountability. The school system is weak when it comes to holding students accountable for bad behavior. They tend to make excuses for the bad behavior based on their social background and/or emotions.
4. Classes no longer aligned properly. There needs to be three levels of classes…AP/Honors, Intermediate, and Basic. AP/Honors to prepare students for entry into a 4-year college, Intermediate to prepare students for entry into 2-year college or workforce entry, and Basic for workforce entry. Nowadays, due to staffing shortages and bad counseling, kids are placed into classes they should not be in based on their historical performance.
5. IEPs/504 plans. If a teacher designs a lesson plan for 40 students…simple enough. However, introduce about 6 IEPs and 8 504 plans and things get problematic or just plain impossible. How can a teacher read a student’s test to them while proctoring the test, while providing a quiet separate location for two students, while allowing some students to listen to music, while having a low-light setting for three students, and prepare all lesson plans in Spanish for students who don’t speak English from a teacher who does not speak Spanish. Catch the drift? Teachers are expected to work miracles that they can’t, so they get burned out. It is absolutely overwhelming.
6. Lesson plans. Teachers are worn out. They have to create lesson plans and create separate lesson plans for each and every student who has an IEPs and/or 504 plan (these plans are VERY specific). Imagine having to create a lesson plan for 40 students, but 14 of the students have to have separate plans for their needs. No you are creating 15 lesson plans to teach one lesson. Multiply that times the number of academic days. Recommendation: place IEP/504 students in smaller classes together…this makes the lesson planning easier…see number 4 above.
7. 6-7 days a week of work. I worked on grading and lesson plans many Saturdays and most Sundays.
I am sure I could think of other things, but money is not the biggest problem. Make the school system a more desirable, supportive place to work and teachers will be glad to teach. Most people who become teachers take their job serious and want to make a difference, but it beats you down over time…not to mention that society is getting worse and worse.
That is my two cents based on my experience and why I left teaching…
Defund every county’s central office by 20% and give the money to the teachers. Problem solved, justice served, and not an additional penny in the budget.
Another example of Mr Hood Cherry picking studies that support his opinion and not including any studies that contradict his opinion. But then again it is his opinion. 😱
It’s the County Offices that need restructuring. They seem to give themselves all the pay increases. Check Out Johnston County’s Salaries at County Office. It’s an eye opener!!!
Maybe we should fine parents for not doing their responsibility of being a parent, Instead of pushing those responsibilities onto teachers and the system. Then use those fines to increase teacher pay.
I disagree with tying teacher pay to evaluations. I still get great evaluations but when I first started they were even better. The minute the mention of pay tied to evaluations started was when they went down a little. Evaluations can still show favoritism and it does happen with almost every administration. You will never have an evaluation that is truly objective and that is a major issue! That is why all state government is tied to a level or a year. It happens in the private sector all the time but it can’t take place in the school system….end of story… period!
You want to pay more for harder to fill positions, that’s great, but they better perform better for the pay!
Cut the fat from the top down! Why does Johnston County need assistant superintendents? I know we are a large county but do we really need them? Also, having to have all the departments because of so much red tape to get anything done…..that’s a state issue. Cut the red tape and you cut the departments.
Reread The first comment from a Former teacher. Perfectly stated and very true. The problem is, whats the solution? How do we make studnets and parents accountable for their actions when they have this sense of entitlement? Disrespect, having their phones out all the time, the drugs, fights, lack of emotional control…(unfortunately I’m talking about the kids and Parents). The Administration is scared of getting sued by a parent just for holding kids accountable for their actions. I do agree the Central office is top heavy, but its more about supporting and encouraging our teachers then just money. They need to feel safe, appreciated, and allowed to teach and have a sense of purpose and accomplishment. IEPs and 504 plans are great in theory but overused and abused for kids who dont want to do what they are suppose to do rather than someone with a real learning disability.