The headline at News and Observer reads, Teacher pay above $50,000 still wouldn’t be NC’s best ever.

Do tax rates fit into @will_doran‘s analysis? #nced #ncpol

Teacher pay above $50k still wouldn’t be NC’s best ever https://t.co/lSmq1IqEEX

— A.P. Dillon – LL1885 (@LadyLiberty1885) April 29, 2016

Oh, really? Let’s rate this claim.

The article is penned by Will Doran, who is also one of the News and Observer staffers operating PolitiFactNC.

Doran seems to be relying only on the National Center for Education Statistics for his dollar figures.

Those figures look at base salary and don’t include supplemental pay. They do not include how state tax rates impact those salaries.  Doran therefore seems to be making the argument based on the value of the dollar using inflation only.

North Carolina’s tax rates have been revamped and lowered in the last 2-3 years (dropping to 5.75% single file rate). This means the net pay is higher now that it would have been in the past for any given salary, therefore we rate Mr. Doran’s claim false.

Related Video:  The Facts About State Level Education Spending in North Carolina

Update:
Doran’s article bullet point says, “But accounting for inflation, North Carolina teachers have earned more” . 

Doran cites the NCES for this source, yet at the bottom of the table footnote 1 reads, “Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state.”

Doran’s article also didn’t look at the average experience or degree level of the teacher population for the years he cited.

*This article has been updated;current single file tax rate.