The district has roughly 2,700 locally funded positions and would need to match any state-approved raises for those employees.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ North Carolina democratic lawmakers are supporting a potential 7% pay increase for teachers, but the path to passage remains unclear as Republicans and Democrats clash over how to fund the increases โ and as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools scrambles to build a budget without knowing what the state will ultimately decide.
House Bill 1178 would increase teacher pay by 7% and establish automatic annual raises through 2033. The bill would also narrow the state’s Opportunity Scholarship voucher program, which supporters say would free up $2.5 billion in taxpayer money to help offset the cost.
“It is the failure of the General Assembly to invest in our teachers that has caused a scandal that threatens the future of our families and our workforce in the state that we love,” said Rep. Phil Rubin during a Wednesday morning press conference, joined by two Mecklenburg County democrats.
The uncertainty in Raleigh is creating real pressure for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, which must pass its 2027 budget before the state is likely to resolve the teacher pay question. The district has roughly 2,700 locally funded positions and would need to match any state-approved raises for those employees.
CMS Board of Education Vice Chair Gregory “Dee” Rankin said a 7% raise would have been welcome โ if it came in time.ย
“We’re operating in uncertainty and having to build a budget with contingency plans, which makes it very difficult,” Rankin said. “We may have to find other monies from other places to make up for that.”
CMS Superintendent Dr. Hill’s budget proposal, which was already rejected, is built on the assumption the General Assembly will approve a 3% raise for state-funded positions. If lawmakers approve a higher raise, the draft shifts money to create a small cushion โ but it only accounts for raises up to 5%.ย
A 7% raise would leave the district short.
“We will not have a way to fund that,” CMS’ Chief Financial Officer Kelly Klutz explained at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting. “So we are being proactive, identifying these trade-offs now, so that we’re not having to make cuts or reductions to our staffing in October or November, whenever it is that the state issues a budget.”
Dr. Hill is set to present a revised budget Friday. The district must have a finalized budget by next week.
While broad bipartisan support exists for raising teacher pay, lawmakers are split on whether to limit the private school voucher program to help pay for those raises. ย Republicans are expected to resist cutting the vouchers outlined in House Bill 1178.
“Are we going to keep writing blank checks to a voucher program that grows on autopilot? Or should we invest in teachers, public school teachers who educate 85% of the kids in our state?” Rep. Rubin said. “I’m hoping that there will become an appetite to maybe we should rein that system in. And this bill doesn’t just delete it, it just reins it in, but there is an appetite for teacher pay increases.”
Republicans control both chambers. A spokesperson for House Speaker Destin Hall’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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