Elliot Umbarger is about to graduate from Duke University with a master’s degree in education, to begin his career as a teacher this fall. He already had a job offer in hand to teach in Durham Public Schools, when he and his classmates heard that state lawmakers were proposing big raises for first year teachers.
“In the short term, we’re all like, this is kind of nice, because I’m going to have a little more money off the bat to kind of get me on my feet and get me going,” Umbarger said.
Republican lawmakers say their aim is that this will make North Carolina’s starting salaries the highest in the Southeast. The new salary schedule would raise starting pay for first year teachers by $7,000. In most districts, that would put a first year teacher’s pay at $50,000 or more, with locally-funded salary supplements included in that number.
The raises for veteran teachers are less than half that. Umbarger is especially aware of what veteran teachers make because his mom has taught in North Carolina for decades…