How much of a raise should North Carolina public school teachers get? Should the state add hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to a program sending children to private schools?
Those are two key questions that divided members of the General Assembly, which reached an impasse in late June on the efforts to amend the state's annual budget. While no new legislation on teacher pay or private school vouchers is expected soon, the issues will certainly carry into campaigns for the Nov. 5 election for N.C. State House and State Senate. The Citizen Times collected the stances of legislative candidates running to represent districts in Buncombe County.
Teacher pay background
Lawmakers enacted legislation last year that will give teachers an average 3% pay raise starting with the July 1 fiscal year. But with high teacher turnover — including at Asheville City Schools, the system with the state's worst attrition rate Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper called for an 8.5% average pay increase. The Republican-majority House mostly ignored the governor's proposal, passing a budget last month calling for a 4.4% raise. The Senate, also with a GOP majority, more recently passed a budget with only the base 3%.
While the two GOP-led legislative chambers disagree on the pay issue, they agree on increasing money for vouchers. That program started in 2014 with $10.8 million and has grown by hundreds of millions of dollars. Legislators said they wanted to add nearly $500 million this coming fiscal year, though that action is currently stalled. Because income caps were eliminated from the program, wealthy families now qualify. The governor and most other Democrats have opposed the vouchers, saying they siphon badly needed funding from public schools.
N.C. Senate District 46
(East, north and west Buncombe County, McDowell and Burke counties)
Democratic challenger and former N.C. House Rep. John Ager of Fairview backed the 8.5% raises. "I support the governor's budget on teacher pay to keep N.C. competitive in the region," he said. Ager said he would support vouchers only to accredited private schools that were "strictly means tested" and would also back them for pre-K students to free up parents to work.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Warren Daniel of Morganton voted for the Senate budget that included the base 3% raise and the additional voucher money. "Teacher turnover is a national problem that cannot be solved by salary increases or bonuses alone," he said in past comments, adding the General Assembly would continue to explore ways to lower attrition. Daniel did not respond to questions late last month about vouchers.
N.C. Senate District 49
(Central and southern Buncombe County including Asheville)
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Julie Mayfield of Asheville voted against the budget and said she did not support giving taxpayer dollars "to wealthy families who want to and are already sending their kids to private school." Private schools don't have to meet mandatory standards on teaching, academic standards or non-discrimination, she said. Mayfield said the vouchers are part of a national effort by Republicans and Christian nationalists to take money from public schools and "support small, faith-based schools."
Republican challenger, Kristie Sluder of Reems Creek did not respond to questions about vouchers or about specific levels of teacher raises, but said they deserved a high amount of compensation. "Teachers should be paid very well, parents should be completely empowered and bureaucratic systems should remain neutral in making moral decisions for other people's children," Sluder said. Much of the trouble with the educational system, she said was the breakdown of traditional family systems.
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N.C. House District 114
(Eastern and south central Buncombe County)
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Eric Ager of Fairview voted against the House budget. "It was unconscionable to provide a paltry (3%) raise to state workers while spending twice as much on the voucher program when most of the new voucher funding will go to families that earn significantly higher wages than state workers and teachers," he said. Ager called the House bill a "show budget" that he said Republicans never truly meant to enact.
Republican challenger, Sherry M. Higgins of Arden, said she supported the raise proposed by the House and agreed with vouchers if they are distributed in a "fair and equitable" manner. "I support a 4.4% teacher pay increase and school vouchers but want to see improvements in the N.C. public education system to ensure that every student in N.C. receives a basic quality education to enable them to be functioning and contributing members of society," Higgins said.
N.C. House District 115
(Western, northern and northeastern Buncombe County)
Incumbent Democratic Rep. Lindsey Prather of Candler voted against the budget, saying the raises weren't enough to keep up with inflation and the vouchers hurt most students. "The vast majority of N.C. students attend public schools and we should be supporting and resourcing those schools," Prather said. She said public money shouldn't go to the private schools, which can discriminate based on disability, sexual orientation and religious affiliation.
Republican challenger Ruth Smith of north Buncombe has said she would like to see teacher pay increased, though didn't respond to questions about the amount of raises or about vouchers. The mother of two boys who went to public schools, Smith on her campaign website said she understands the importance of the public school system and that she would "work to empower parents and give them more of a say in their child's education."
N.C. House District 116
(Central Buncombe County including most of Asheville)
The race has no incumbent and only one candidate, Democrat and former Rep. Brian Turner of Asheville who said he supports the governor's 8.5% pay raise proposal and opposes the voucher system, which has "little to no oversight" and what he called a high potential for fraud and waste. "I think our public school system could benefit greatly from the $500 million that is being sent to private schools," he said. Turner said that could be distributed to counties at an average of about $5 million each for public school counselors, social workers, nurses, teaching assistants.
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Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess atjburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter@AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with asubscriptionto the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC teacher pay raises? Private school vouchers? Candidates stances
