Legislators Should Stay and Negotiate Teacher Pay | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

Republican legislators attempt to desert educators again
    RALEIGH: Governor Roy Cooper today sent a letter to Republican legislative leadership encouraging them to stay in Raleigh and negotiate teacher pay with him. North Carolina teachers are working without decent pay raises while Republicans refuse to come to the negotiating table.

    In addition to earlier compromise offers, Democratic leadership continues to try and work across the aisle with Republicans to end the budget impasse:

• "Shortly before Republican legislators passed a now-vetoed bill including the average 3.9% raises for teachers in the vetoed budget, Senate Democrats quietly sent Republicans a compromise offer on raises: 6.5% average raises for teachers, with 5% raises for other state employees. Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, D-Wake, told the Insider on Thursday that he took numbers from the vetoed budget and Gov. Roy Cooper's July compromise proposal and 'basically split the baby.' The Democrats' proposed mini-budget also included Medicaid Transformation funding." (Colin Campbell, THE INSIDER, 11/15/19)

    Click HERE to read the full letter or see text below:

    The Hon. Tim Moore

    Speaker

    North Carolina House of Representatives

    16 West Jones Street, Room 2304

    Raleigh, NC 27601

    The Hon. Philip E. Berger

    President Pro Tempore

    North Carolina Senate

    16 West Jones Street, Room 2007

    Raleigh, NC 27601

    Speaker Moore and Senator Berger:

    As you know time is running out on this latest legislative session and our teachers, school personnel and other educators have yet to receive a meaningful raise. I write to reiterate my hope to negotiate with you a stand-alone conference report addressing salaries.

    Our teachers and school personnel are working hard in advance of the holiday season without knowing if or when they will receive a much-needed salary increase. We can do the right thing and pass and sign a bipartisan bill to do more than the minimal pay package I vetoed last week. To recap, my compromise offer over the next two years is 8.5% for teachers, 5% for non-certified school personnel, 4% for community colleges, 5% for university employees subject to the human resources act.

    We can recognize the important work of educators by working together to pass a bipartisan conference report that will strengthen our schools, universities and community colleges.

    Please feel free to contact me directly or my Legislative Director, Lee Lilley, on how we can move forward before time runs out.

• Contact: Ford Porter
•     govpress@nc.gov