Public Education

• 84% of NC families choose public schools for their families (source).
• NC sadly ranks 48th in public k-12 per-pupil spending (source).
• Traditional K-12 public school districts are the single-largest employer in 35 NC counties, a top-3 employer in 85 counties, and a top-5 employer in 98 counties (source).  

• NC ranks 43rd in average teacher pay (source).
• Average NC K-12 teacher salaries, inflation adjusted, have gone DOWN: $59,317 in 2013-14 to $58,292 in 2023-24 (source).
• Starting average teacher pay is $42,542, one of the lowest states in the South. NC minimum living wage is $58,411 (source). 

Unfunded mandates on our teachers and staff increase burnout and turnover rate. Ex: The book indexing requirement bundled within HB805 that was rightfully vetoed by Gov. Stein but frustratingly overridden, which gave no notice and no funding and forced only public school teachers to manually archive every single book in their classrooms (whose library collections are largely paid for and provided by our underpaid teachers). (Learn more)

New teachers in our state are nearly twice as likely to be underprepared for the job than they were 10 years ago: 

• In the 2022-23 school year, 41% of new teachers had no required teacher preparation or in-class experience before entering the classroom (source). 

Private school vouchers are siphoning billions of tax-payer dollars to benefit mostly white kids: 

• By 2032, North Carolina’s voucher program will receive more than a half-billion dollars of state taxpayer funds annually (source).
• 73% of voucher recipients are White (source). 
• I disagree with funding requests from Tier 3 and Tier 4, which are families of four making over $267,651 a year or not even reporting their household income. These families are likely already sending their children to private school of their own volition and do not need financial support from public tax-payer dollars (only 8.4% attended public school prior to receiving a voucher and transitioned to private school - source). 

As one of the least regulated private school voucher programs in the country: 

• NC doesn’t regulate the number of hours or days that instruction is offered by a voucher-receiving private school. 
• Teachers in private schools aren’t required to have any teaching training or credentials. 
• Private schools are exempt from state testing requirements imposed on public schools.
• There are minimal to no requirements for private schools to accept students with special needs, diverse backgrounds, or socioeconomic factors.
• 73% of schools accepting vouchers are religious-based (source).
• Many private schools are drastically increasing tuition after receiving voucher revenue (source). 

SchCalFlex/Guilford/Open Cal.  

Guilford County Schools Funding Requests.  

Count NC Pre-K for School ADM.  

Build Safer Communities and Schools Act.