North Carolina Teachers Paid Twice as Much as Their Fellow Citizens

It’s that time of year in North Carolina, when teachers take a paid day off; flood our state’s capital; shout down our elected representatives while their in session; all the while demanding more money and respect from besieged taxpayers.


I would love a day’s wage for protesting in front of my boss's house. Oh, and for good measure, bust inside one of his meetings and scream what an ungrateful bastard he is for not paying me the national average. How long do you think I would have a job after pulling a stunt like that?


North Carolina teachers demand respect without reciprocation.  I admit they work hard and have to put up with a lot of crap, but so do we. What I don’t appreciate is the obfuscations and outright lies that fills their rhetoric. This is what a teacher makes according to the News and Observer:

The average salary for a North Carolina teacher has increased to more than $50,000 a year for the first time.


Recently released figures from the state Department of Public Instruction put the average salary for a North Carolina public school teacher at $51,214 this school year. That’s $1,245 more than the previous school year.


The $50,000 benchmark has been a major symbolic milestone, with Republican candidates having campaigned in 2016 about how that figure had already been reached. Democrats argued that the $50,000 mark hadn’t been reached yet and that Republicans hadn’t done enough, especially for highly experienced teachers.


The average teacher salary has risen 12 percent over the past five years, from $45,737 a year. Since taking control of the state legislature in 2011, Republicans raised the starting base salary for new teachers to $35,000 and gave raises to other teachers.


I have written numerous blog post about this national average nonsense. If we are to get a true measure of what teachers make in the state of North Carolina then let’s compare median household income, median family income and per capita income. We’ve already established North Carolina teachers are paid $50,000 a year not including pensions or healthcare. Now let’s take a look at what the rest of us make compared to the national average:


Household income is an aggregate of all incomes combined in one residence whether it’s one person, or twenty illegal aliens in a one bedroom, one bath house.

Show dollars as: Nominal Real

Real Median Household Income in North Carolina

	2016	1 Year Change	3 Year Change
US	$57,617	+2.01%	+7.02%
North Carolina	$50,584	+4.44%	+6.94%

Wow, it looks like North Carolina teachers are doing rather well. Now let’s take a look at median family income which primarily consist of a married couples.

Show dollars as: Nominal Real

Real Median Family Income in North Carolina

	2016	1 Year Change	3 Year Change
US	$71,062	+2.81%	+7.71%
North Carolina	$62,289	+2.39%	+7.73%

Now for the truth teller: median per capita income:

Show dollars as: Nominal Real

Real Per Capita Income in North Carolina

	2016	1 Year Change	3 Year Change
US	$31,128	+2.54%	+7.19%
North Carolina	$28,156	+3.74%	+7.68%

WOW! North Carolina teachers make almost twice as much as their fellow Tar Heels and almost $20,000 more than the average American. Unbelievable. Yet, were supposed to shed tears for people who have better healthcare and retirement plans than we.


I can say without hesitation we just busted another liberal myth. But you can bet your ass, they’ll be back for as long as Republicans control the General Assembly.


Source:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article211172024.html

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article203186954.html

https://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/north-carolina/


https://bizfluent.com/info-8301472-difference-median-income-per-capita.html

http://economistsoutlook.blogs.realtor.org/2014/04/08/median-income-family-vs-household/


https://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2014/08/north-carolina-teachers-have-it-better.html

North Carolina Teachers Finding Greener Pastures?

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.  North Carolina's educators are constantly complaining they’re paid well below the national average.  The fact is each state has a different median income and cost of living.  The truth is teachers make as much, if not more, than the average Tar Heel family.

The media is making a big deal about retention rates in North Carolina.  Little is reported on where these teachers originate from and to why they’re leaving, except of course the media’s portrayal of poor pay and lack of respect.  The John Locke Foundation shed some light on this topic.

Earlier this month, Dr. Alisa Chapman, Vice President for Academic and University Programs for the University of North Carolina System, briefed members of the NC State Board of Education on the background, demographics, and qualifications of the state's teaching profession.

Drawing on data from the 2011-2012 school year, Dr. Chapman found that, of the 95,543 teachers employed that year, approximately 37 percent of them were trained in UNC System institutions.  The next largest share consisted of teachers trained in other states.  Nearly 29 percent of North Carolina's teacher workforce received their teaching credential from a college or university beyond our borders.  The remaining third of teachers could not be classified, came from a private university in North Carolina, or entered the profession through alternative entry, Teach for America (TFA), or Visiting International Faculty (VIF) programs.

Do not be alarmed.  Do not blame Republicans.  Do not blame me.  This is nothing new.  For a decade or more, the UNC System and out-of-state institutions have supplied the majority of North Carolina's public school teachers.  Dr. Chapman found that, between 2005 and 2012, there were only slight fluctuations in the percentage of teachers trained by the UNC System or "imported" from other states.

Data on teachers trained in UNC System institutions is plentiful.  Although Dr. Chapman has identified their states of origin, we know less about teachers trained in other states.  It should come as no surprise that New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia supplied 12 percent or nearly 11,300 public school teachers during the 2011-2012 school year.  Permanent teaching jobs are harder and harder to come by in those states, because their populations are declining or aging, the local tax bases cannot support extravagant spending on public schools, and turnover is limited.   As long as supply continues to outstrip demand (and it will for the foreseeable future), growing school districts in North Carolina will continue to recruit teachers from these states

Houston, TX has been recruiting North Carolina teachers.  Those leaving for greener pastures cite a higher salary and no state income tax.  Funny how no state income taxes is an incentive when they, and their progressive comrades, skewered republicans for trying to abolish it.

Ricky Ferguson said he's working his dream job, teaching high school science.  Last year, he taught in Union County.  Now he is one of dozens of North Carolina transplants teaching in Texas.

 "I'm doing the same job I was doing in Carolina, I'm just being appreciated here more in Texas," Ferguson said.

 

Channel 9 first met Ferguson in July when Houston school leaders were in Charlotte, trying to recruit new teachers.  Ferguson accepted the job on the spot, excited to make $60,000, which is double his North Carolina salary.     

"With North Carolina with the salary I was making and the state income tax, I was lucky if I brought home $20K a year and that's with a master’s degree," Ferguson said.

  
The cost of living in Houston is comparable to Charlotte's and Texas does not collect income tax, so teachers keep more of their paychecks.

I have no doubt in my mind Mr. Ferguson was a big advocate for the progressive income tax in North Carolina.  Now that he’s in Houston, I wonder what progressives have to say about the state of education in Texas.  Here’s an excerpt from an article.  See if you notice anything familiar.

Despite having a starting salary that is on par with other states, the average teacher in Texas makes about $49,000 a year — about $8,000 below the national average. Teacher pay in Texas ranked 30th in the nation during the 2010-11 school year, dropping to 35th two years later, according to an annual state-by-state analysis by the National Education Association.

Mr. Ferguson has a starting salary of $60,000 a year and living in a luxury apartment when the average annual salary for a teacher in Texas is $49,000?  Something smells fishy.

Sources:

http://costonscomplaint.blogspot.com/2014/08/north-carolina-teachers-have-it-better.html

http://www.johnlocke.org/newsletters/research/2015-05-28-gthcpa5kn2nqh30g68j579e635-edu-update.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/09/04/north-carolina-republicans-will-aim-to-ax-income-tax/

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2015/03/13/the-wrong-medicine-for-the-nc-economy/

http://www.wbtv.com/story/29390963/nearly-1000-cms-teachers-resign-as-educators-lobby-lawmakers

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/special-reports/nc-teachers-head-houston-48-percent-salary-increas/nhxDz/

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/07/11/teacher-pay-lags-attrition-and-class-sizes-grow/

North Carolina Teachers Have it Better Than They Think

If you live in North Carolina, chances are you’ve heard the hue and cry about how impoverished our teachers are.  According to every libtard organization that infest this state, educators are practically spit on and kicked around.  Here is a local rag outlining their abuse.

Pay for the teachers who educate the state's roughly 1.5 million public school students ranks 46th in the country, above only Mississippi and West Virginia among 12 Southeastern states, the report said. Five years ago, North Carolina teacher salaries were in the middle of the state rankings.

One out of nine teachers earn the lowest base salary of $30,800 because there are few meaningful raises until the fifth year on the job, the report said. The North Carolina average teacher salary of $45,933 last year was nearly $10,000 less than the national average, according to the National Education Association.

That sounds pretty bad doesn’t it?  But it’s not, considering the median income for a family of four in North Carolina is $45,150.  So actually, experienced teachers make little more than the average Tar Heel family.  And as far as base salary, hey, everyone has to learn their trade.

As for that 46^th ranking in the country, the median household income in the U.S. is $51,371.  Now let’s take a look at the map below.  Here is what $100 is worth in each state.  It seems to me teachers in North Carolina are squawking about nothing.  But what do you expect from a democratic constituency. 

Read more at http://www.wral.com/report-nc-teacher-pay-slides-against-peer-states/12190793/#0FDWkk7d9L6IVKg3.99

http://www.deptofnumbers.com/income/north-carolina/charlotte/

http://www.nea.org/home/54597.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/19/value-100-dollars-each-state_n_5691571.html

North Carolina Liberals Should Implement "Adopt a Teacher" Program

Liberals love spending other people’s money.  That maxim is no different in North Carolina.  Recently the NCAE has staged “walk-ins,” at schools as a means of protest, instead of a walk-out.  What they want is the reinstatement of tenure and pay raises.

 

Since the Great Recession many of us haven’t had a pay raise, and we sure as hell don’t have a job for life.  As a matter of fact, many of us have had to endure lost wages, and are now losing our health insurance.  I want to thank all of you libtards for that special gift you gave us this past general election.  I don’t know how we can ever pay you back for that.   

But that’s irrelevant to the libtards in the Old North State.  They seem to think money grows on trees, or the rest of us are not in need of food, clothing or health care.

I have an idea.  Why don’t they spend their own money by implementing an “Adopt a Teacher” program?  We constantly see advertisements from Christian organizations that promote the welfare of children in the third-world countries.  Why don’t they do the same thing in North Carolina?

Oh, what am I thinking?  That would mean they would have to spend their own money.  Yeah, right.  That’s not going to happen.

Source:  http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/03/4432472/walk-in-message-teachers-matter.html#.UnhHs_lJO7N

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/11/04/4440273/teachers-parents-walk-in-to-support.html#.UnhIBPlJO7N

http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=10601

NC Teachers Need to Educate Themselves on State Budget

Teachers in North Carolina might want to educate themselves on the state’s budget and subsequent reforms before making wild accusations like the attendees in Raleigh on “Moral Mondays.”  These bused in fools are regurgitating the bile of their puppet masters.   The point of distress for many of these protesters is that NC is cutting education spending; their master’s degrees are worthless; tenure is abolished, and they haven’t had a raise in the past seven years.

All of the above is false, except for the abolition of tenure.  The following Carolina Journal article puts the state’s budget in perspective:

 RALEIGH — Although authorized spending on K-12 public education in the newly enacted state budget will increase by nearly 5 percent over the previous school year, opponents of education reform have orchestrated rallies, flooded the media, and vilified the Republican-dominated General Assembly for its sweeping agenda.

Lawmakers adopted a 2013-14 budget conference report authorizing $7.9 billion in General Fund spending on K-12 education, which is up 4.8 percent over the $7.5 billion budget enacted for the 2012-13 fiscal year. 

"Since 2010, Republican legislators have made it clear that their policy agenda included a handful of core education reforms eventually incorporated into the budget,” said Terry Stoops, director of research and education studies at the John Locke Foundation. 

“These include the expansion of parental choice, elimination of teacher tenure and certain pay supplements, implementation of a school grading system, and development of a performance pay system for school personnel,” Stoops said. “Simply put, this budget is the culmination of an education reform agenda that had been laid out for the last three years."

Acknowledging there are naysayers who claim that the reforms are an attempt to destroy public education, Stoops said: “The truth is that these reforms discard or dismantle policies approved decades ago at the behest of a handful of special interest groups. Legislators both modernized and diversified public education in North Carolina."

Now comes the hard part, he said. 

“Status-quo teachers and administrators, along with the advocacy groups that support them, will do everything in their power to undermine these new policies during their implementation. As such, Republican legislators must remain vigilant,” Stoops said. “Otherwise, these worthwhile reforms will flounder through no fault of their own."

Overall General Fund allocations to education increase the share of spending on education from 55 percent of the General Fund budget last year to 56 percent this year

I can commiserate with these teachers.  I wish I had the ability to tell my boss, he can’t fire me, because I have tenure.  Oh, and I would like to have a minimum 5% annual raise.  And by the way, I’m going to retire at age 50 and you’re going to pay me an annual stipend, along with all my health care bills, until the day I die.

Geez, I wish I had that kind of leverage. 

http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=10366

http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/07/30/moral-monday-13-teachers-march-on-raleigh/

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/29/3068037/largest-moral-monday-crowd-yet.html

Rhode Island Teacher Calls It Quits

H/T:  I Own the World