Lt. Governor Dan Forest lays out the education increases in the North Carolina 2016 budget, including raising teacher pay for the third year in a row.

 WATCH:

Education Highlights: 

• Average teacher salary increase of 4.7% and will average over $50,000.  (More details on the increases here)
• Over the next three years, that teacher salary average will increase to $55,000, which is an increase of over 20% since the Governor and Lt. Governor took office.
• NC leads the nation for increased teacher pay.
• Education budget will increase by over $512 million during the 2016-17 budget year.
• The current spending on education is $2 billion more on k-12 than was spent in the last year of the Perdue administration, which froze teacher pay.
• Funding for 450 more first grade teachers to shrink classroom size with the goal of 1 teacher for every 17 kids in K-3.
• Full funding of teacher assistant positions.
• No tuition increases for students paying in-state tuition in the UNC university system.
• UNC system university student fees frozen.
• Offer of a $1,000 per year tuition rate at several UNC universities.

The video also covers the $3 billion in tax cuts, the state cutting unemployment in half, the creation of 300,000 new jobs, paying off $3.8 billion in debt left behind by the Perdue administration and boosting per capita income at a rate 15% faster than the rest of the country.

Governor McCrory also put out a statement with details on the budget, including teacher pay raises and textbook spending.  Excerpt:

“The highlight of this year’s budget is investing in North Carolina teachers to ensure it recruits and retains the best and brightest to prepare students for future success. Teachers will receive an average 4.7 percent pay increase, bringing average teacher pay in North Carolina above $50,000 for the first time in state history. When considering robust health and retirement benefits offered to every full-time teacher in our state, the budget will boost average total compensation to more than $67,000. Teacher pay in North Carolina is growing faster than in any other state in the country under Governor McCrory’s leadership. Since 2013, North Carolina has invested more than $1 billion in new funding for teacher raises.”

Image via http://governor.nc.gov/

 

Here are a few more NC economic tidbits:

• NC’s AAA Bond Rating Affirmed By All 3 Credit Rating Agencies.
• NC Revenue Up, Budget Surplus Increases To $425 Million. In contrast, Virginia announced a $266 budget shortfall which will likely put promised teacher raises on hold.
• NC Jumps Up 4 Spots In CNBC’s Annual Ranking Of The Best States For Business
• NC Has Added 25,000 Jobs (since May 2016) and 300,000 since Governor McCrory took office.
• $425 million dollar surplus, which is $188 million more than originally projected.

Related Reading:

• View the 2016 Appropriations Act, signed by Governor McCrory.
• Visit the Lt. Governor’s website.