Hundreds of teachers called out of work to hold protests across North Carolina on Wednesday in support of better teacher pay. They also called out the lack of a state budget, which has stymied potential raises for state employees like educators.
More than 50 schools were slated to participate, and while most were based in Wake County, some schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Gaston County Schools as well.
More than a dozen teachers from Paw Creek Elementary School called out of work to protest at the intersection of Brookshire Boulevard and Huntersville Road in Charlotte. They held signs and chanted “fund public schools,” “pass the budget,” and “pay your teachers,” cheering whenever a passing car honked its horn.
Lauren Devitto is a third-grade teacher there who’s in her second year.
“All of us would rather be in there with our kids teaching right now, but this is something that the community needs to know about,” Devitto said. “And we found that people that are not in education don't really understand and just don't know.”
She said she loves her school, but worries about her future, starting a family and whether teaching is a sustainable career.
“I adore my school,” she said. “I never want to leave my school or my kids, but there are some things that just my school can't fix and it needs to be bigger than that.”
Among other things, Wednesday’s protests focused on asking for the state to reinstate longevity pay and master’s pay; fully fund the court-ordered Leandro plan to improve schools; and unfreeze pay scale increases for veteran teachers, who see no state salary step increases between years 15 and 25.
Stacy McGuffee, a first-grade teacher at Paw Creek Elementary School, is a 16-year veteran who won’t see an increase in her base pay for nearly 10 years under the current state pay scale. She works a side job in tutoring and remembers working three jobs when she first started.
“It’s very stressful to try and make ends meet,” McGuffee said. “I know a lot of younger teachers, it would not be possible for them right now because they’re not getting the pay and they’re having to work multiple jobs.”
NC Teachers In Action, the group behind the protests, says they hope to build momentum in monthly protests on the 7 of each month leading up to April 7, when the General Assembly reconvenes. The next two protests will be held on weekends, so they’re hoping more teachers will participate to build the momentum leading to April.
Multiple rankings regularly place North Carolina near the bottom of the country for teacher pay. The National Education Association ranks North Carolina 43rd in the nation with an average teacher salary of $58,292, and 39th for starting teacher salary, at $42,542.
Another recent report from the libertarian Reason Foundation ranked North Carolina 40th for teacher pay when accounting for inflation, and found that teachers’ inflation-adjusted salaries had effectively decreased by more than 20 percent between 2002 and 2022 — the third largest decline in the country.
CMS did not respond to inquiries about how many teachers called out across the district, but said in a statement that it was aware of the protests and remains “committed to supporting and empowering our teachers and employees in their essential roles.”
