Hundreds of Union County Public Schools teachers on Wednesday called in sick and marched to protest what they consider an insufficient increase to Union County’s teacher salary supplement.
The school board is set to vote on approving a $1,000 increase to the local salary supplement on Nov. 6. That raise had been frozen due to uncertainty in the state budget. But teachers say the raise falls short of original plans for a $2,000 increase.
One longtime teacher at Union County Schools who participated in the call out said many teachers are eyeing jobs in South Carolina or neighboring districts like Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools where teacher pay is higher. She said many teachers stayed because of the promise of a $2,000 raise that’s now been cut in half. That, coupled with higher health insurance premiums due to this year’s deficit in the state health plan and rising costs of living, means many teachers are taking an effective pay cut, she said.
“It is hard to survive without having a second job, and most teachers do,” said the teacher, who WFAE is not naming due to concerns about retaliation.
Union County Schools confirmed that it received 700 requests for leave Wednesday. School officials said that’s higher than normal — for reference, the last four Wednesdays saw 300 requests for leave. But the district said it could not confirm that all requests for leave were related to protests.
“The Union County Board of Education and Union County Public Schools staff has always and will continue to advocate for additional pay for teachers and other employees,” the district said in a statement. “While we understand that teachers are frustrated, our focus must remain on ensuring that students receive a high-quality education in a safe learning environment everyday. We value our teachers and need them in school. We look forward to having our teachers back in class tomorrow.”
The district says the absences did not affect all schools. It worked with its substitute management partner and “deployed staff from various departments to schools to cover classes.”
While teacher base salary is set by the state, counties can use local tax dollars to boost that pay with a supplement. During last year’s budget talks, the Union County Public Schools Board of Education initially proposed a $2,000 increase to teachers’ supplements for this school year. But the Union County Board of Commissioners only provided enough funding for a $1,000 increase.
The teacher who spoke to WFAE noted that while Union County Schools recently boasted the highest test scores in the state, it’s ranked 37th out of 115 school districts in terms of its teacher supplement.
“They’re going to lose a lot of teachers this year if we don’t get enough money because you can make so much more money in other areas that are very close by,” the teacher said.
The district has delayed implementation of any supplement due to the uncertainty caused by the lack of a state budget. That delay prompted its own headlines last week, when Union County Commissioners wrote an open letter chiding the school board for not using county funds as planned, and alleged school officials blamed the county for not providing enough funding for any supplement.
Union County school officials have said that was a misunderstanding. Officials said that the plan had always been to implement the supplement, but that there were concerns about the potential of unfunded mandates from the state amid the lack of a full budget. This week, the school board’s finance committee met to recommend the $1,000 increase be implemented as planned, retroactive to July 2025.
Elena Brown is a former Union County Public Schools teacher. Her son is in eighth grade at Cuthbertson Middle School, which was impacted by absences Wednesday.
“He said that random subs are watching the classes and they have to stay in their first block classroom all day long and they can’t leave,” Brown said. “No recess, no cafeteria lunch, no electives. They’re basically just sitting there not doing anything.”
Brown said teachers have long had frustrations at Union County Schools — she left the district during the COVID-19 pandemic due to what she described as “untenable conditions.”
“I’m surprised in a good way that teachers are standing up for themselves,” she said. “This has been a long time coming.”
The school board is set to vote on the supplement Nov. 6. Teachers say they may plan more action the following day depending on the results of the vote.
