NCAE Continues to Thwart Classroom Accountability, Teacher Merit Pay | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, N.C.     Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) and House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) issued the following joint statement today in response to yet another frivolous lawsuit filed by the North Carolina affiliate of the national teachers’ union.

    “By filing another frivolous lawsuit, the union has made its blueprint clear: ‘if at first you don’t succeed at the polls, then sue, sue again.’ While union leaders are focused on succeeding in the courtroom, we’ll remain focused on our children succeeding in the classroom.”

    Background

    The Excellent Public Schools Act boosts accountability in the classroom by employing teachers through contracts that are renewed based on job performance – like nearly every other profession. The current system fosters mediocrity and discourages excellence by granting nearly unlimited job security to all who teach a few years. During the last school year, only 17 out of 95,028 instructors were dismissed for cause.

    The law also provides $10.2 million to reward outstanding teachers through a pay for excellence system. Beginning in 2014, the top 25 percent of teachers identified by their local school boards will receive four-year contracts with built-in annual increases. That means over the next four years, those highly effective teachers will earn an additional $5,000 through a permanent salary increase.

    President Pro Tempore Senator Phil Berger

    2007 Legislative Building
    Raleigh, N.C. 27601

    (919) 733-5708


    Contacts:

     Amy Auth, (919) 301-1737  •  Shelly Carver (919) 301-1744