NCAE will host a live Twitter chat tomorrow, Thursday, July 31, to answer any questions members may have about the proposed State budget. If you are a Twitter follower, please join us at 4 p.m. using the hashtag #promisesunfulfilled. Proposed Budget Agreement Announced I. The budget being proposed by the General Assembly does not fulfill promises; it is a plan that continues to disrespect teachers. • Part of the 7 percent teachers raise is being funded using current earned state longevity pay. This eliminates longevity pay for teachers. • Teachers once again are the ONLY public employees losing the earned benefit of longevity. • All other public school employees and all state employees will still receive their longevity pay in addition to their pay raise. • Masters pay is being eliminated. Only teachers, who completed one course prior to August 1, 2013, will be paid for their masters degree. NOTE: Masters pay is retained moving forward if job requires. II. The salary increase being proposed is a down payment on the states IOU to students, teachers and public school employees. • Teachers have not been paid for their experience steps for the last five years. • In 2011-12, an across the board 1.2 percent pay raise was granted. This did not include any payment for the experience step. III. There is no comprehensive plan or commitment to NC teachers to reach the national average as it relates to salaries or to provide Education Support Professionals (ESP) a living wage. • Proposed salary schedule steps start at $33,000 and top out at $50,000 after 25 years of service. NOTE: The current bachelors degree salary schedule tops out at $53,180. The new schedule is a reduction. • The proposed salary plan agreed upon is a six-step schedule (schedule not available). • Education Support Professionals will only receive a $500 pay raise, while state employees receive $1,000. • All compensation earned is factored into the average teacher salary rankings. Therefore with the elimination of key, earned state benefits, the goal of reaching the national average will take longer. The following earned state benefits are being eliminated in this budget: a. Longevity eliminated for classroom teachers b. Masters pay eliminated going forward, unless job requires IV. The proposed average 7 percent increase is not an accurate increase because it includes longevity, an earned benefit that educators already receive. Folding longevity into the teacher salary schedule creates the following inequities. § No new teacher would ever be able to earn longevity. § Its eliminated for teachers only. § Once folded into the salary schedule, any employee (even if new to the state without any service to the state) will reap the benefit. § Teachers with NC State Service, other than teaching, will not reap the benefit if their pay step is less than the steps where longevity is placed in the salary schedule. § Other state employees and all other public school employees will receive an additional increase in their longevity moving forward since longevity is a percent of the state salary. Every time the state salary increases, longevity increases. V. Voucher funding increased. § The proposed budget adds $800,000 in new money to the Opportunity Scholarship Program. § This is a program that does not hold private schools accountable. VI. Questions remain unanswered on other education funding and policy issues, including the following: A. Funding Issues: § Textbooks § Transportation (Driver Education and Bus Mechanics, etc.) § Pay for Principals § Cuts to DPI § Cuts to Central Office Personnel B. Policy Issues: § Read to Achieve § Grading of Schools § Virtual Charter Schools § Career Status § Teaching Fellows § Small School Funding
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 21:43:50 +0000