But lest we applaud too soon, we should consider the new initiative in the context of North Carolina’s recent record on education. Last July, North Carolina became the first state to quash supplements for teachers with master's degrees. In the 2012-2013 academic year, the national average for teacher pay stood at $56,383; in North Carolina, it was just $45,947. Accordingly, the state ranked 46th in the nation for teacher pay. In the wake of these financial realities, many teachers have opted to leave for more viable prospects in other states. Although the proposed pay raise may alleviate some of the financial burden on teachers, it may not be enough to retain the best.
Furthermore, state legislators last year eliminated caps on class sizes and ended teacher tenure, instituting a merit-based system that awards the top 25 percent of teachers with longer contracts. Although there are valid concerns with a tenure system—guaranteed job security may disincentivize teachers from working hard—merit-based pay raises a new set of issues. A system that relies on monetary incentives to coax better performance assumes that teachers are in it solely for the money, not because they have genuine passion. Teachers should strive to perform well regardless of potential pay raises, and districts should set salaries high enough to allow them to do so.
Moreover, using student performance as a benchmark for teacher acumen overlooks the litany of external factors that can also influence student success—parents, school resources and neighborhood, among others. The attempt to improve education quality by increasing teacher pay may be undermined by the adverse effects of eliminating class caps and teacher tenure. Far from satisfactory, the institutional health of North Carolina’s education system falls somewhere between comatose and code blue.
Education lies at the heart of a viable democracy, but the system is broken. There is a systemic dearth of respect for non-college teachers, which is reflected in wages that leave both tenured and non-tenured teachers—the people we hope will inspire the next Nobel Prize winning physicist or modern-day Shakespeare—struggling to provide for their families. Increasing teacher pay can help support teachers and attract new ones. But solving the teacher problem will not solve the education problem. Education reformers should consider other factors that affect the quality of education, like parental involvement and access to resources.
Once upon a time, North Carolina was the paragon of educational success, allegedly producing a school a day for four years at the turn of the 20th century. Increasing teacher pay is an important step in restoring that legacy, but legislators must do more to cure the education system.
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