The Average NC Teacher Salary: Understanding Masters Pay

After an overwhelming response to my last post about the Average Teacher Salary, I am following up with information about masters pay. Several NC politicians (including McCrory) are now in ads claiming to have raised average NC teacher pay to $50,000.     As I explained previously, the "average teacher salary" is calculated is based on combining each of the 8 pay scales.   Two of the pay scales are for teachers with a bachelors degree; the other six are for teachers with a graduate/advanced degree of some kind.

There are positions in public education that are paid using the teacher pay scale that the general public would not consider teachers.  While still educators and absolutely part of the team that provides public education for our children, they are not who you would meet on "Meet the Teacher Night" with a class of children assigned to them.  These are people like school counselors, curriculum specialists, or technology directors.  A masters degree is required for many of these positions.  Since the degree is required, these people are paid using the masters pay scale. 

Teachers in NC are not required to have a masters or advanced degree.

After 2013, teachers cannot earn additional pay for a graduate or advanced degree unless their job requires it (which means they aren't a classroom teacher) or they have been grandfathered in (which means they were already earning additional pay for an advanced degree or were enrolled in a masters program prior to July 1, 2013). 

There are 3 ways a teacher in NC can increase their yearly salary:

1. Keep teaching.  A brand new teacher will earn $35,000 and is eligible to earn up to $51,000 on the current scale if they continue teaching for 25 years.  $51,000 is currently the most they can earn.

2.  Leave the classroom.  If a teacher gets an advanced degree now they will not be compensated for it in their salary unless they take a position outside of the classroom (or obviously out of education altogether).

3. Earn their National Boards certification. There are currently about 112,000 NBPTS certified teachers in the United States with about 18% of those in NC.  This certification costs teachers almost $2000 (this is just to apply; it doesn't guarantee they will get it) and once completed must be renewed every 10 years.  If you know someone (or are someone) who has completed this process you know it is not an easy one and is very time consuming.  A teacher can then earn a 12% salary increase with the maximum salary (for 25+ years of experience) $57,120. 

Some school systems/school have additional funding for additional responsibilities.  This is why some teachers choose to coach.  However, assistant coaches often do not get paid, only head coaches.  Club sponsors, mentors, lead teachers, etc. are usually not compensated for their time. 

Based on the information I could find, the way that the average teacher pay was calculated isn't new.  However, since phasing out increased salaries for advanced degrees, this method no longer gives the full picture.  Since some teachers were grandfathered in, yes they could be making as much as $64,750 (according to the pay scale) but most teachers (especially moving forward) will always be stuck on the scale for pay with a bachelors degree.  It will take teachers 15-25 years of service to ever earn $50,000. 

The average classroom teacher does not make over $50,000.

The Average NC Teacher Salary

If you have been watching the Olympics the last few weeks, you probably noticed the dozens of commercials that the Carolina Partnership for Reform put out in a media blitz, drilling home that NC teachers now make $50,000 per year thanks to several specific NC law makers (who are running for re-election).

"Great!" you might think, "Let's pay those teachers what they are worth!  $50,000 is a respectable wage; way to go NC!"

Or if you are a teacher you might think, "50,000!?! Where in the world is this number coming from?  I know what I make and it is nowhere close to that! In fact, I'll probably never make that much!"

So where does that number come from?  Honestly, I'm not entirely sure (I did contact CPRNC; they did not respond), but I do have a pretty good idea...

Each year the NC legislature votes on and approves the salary schedule for NC teachers.  The salary schedule is based on years of experience and degrees.

There are 8 salary schedules published:
1. Teachers with a bachelor's degree
2. Teachers with a bachelor's degree and National Board Certification
3. Teachers with a Master's degree
4. Teachers with a Master's degree and National Board Certification
5. Teachers with an Advanced (sixth year) degree
6. Teachers with an Advanced (sixth year) degree and National Board Certification
7. Teachers with a Doctoral degree
8. Teachers with a Doctoral degree and National Board Certification

Each of those 8 categories listed above is shown on the salary schedule as a separate column.  Then there are 23 or 26 salaries listed for 0-25+ years of experience (teachers cannot earn their NBPTS Certification until their 4th year of teaching) in each column.  All in all, this means there are 196 salaries listed on the document for licensed teachers.  When you average these 196 salaries, guess what you get?

$49, 685.87

Well, there you go!  Teachers do basically make an average of $50,000.
(Many school systems choose to supplement their teachers' salaries using local funds.  If I understand correctly, once you add in the supplements the average raises to $50,150, like the commercials said. I did not do the math to verify this.)

But, wait.  There are a couple of things to consider...

• The average salary might be almost $50,000 but that doesn't mean the average teacher makes that.  They clearly did not calculate that number by averaging the salary of every public school teacher in NC.
• Very few public school teachers fit into the last four categories (having advanced or doctoral degrees).  Educators that fit those categories have often left the classroom and work in a school system position or in school administration. So if you look at just the first four categories (bachelors and masters degrees with and without NBPTS certification) the average salary becomes $47,648.36.  If you take out NBPTS certification, the average salary is $45,193.54.
• If you just look at the salary schedule for a teacher with a bachelor's degree, the average salary is  $41,769.23 with the maximum salary being $51,000 (for 25+ years of experience).
• So while the commercials are technically correct, odds are that your child's teacher is probably not making $50,000 and if they are, they almost certainly aren't making much more than $50,000.

Final note:
In 1999, the average teacher salary in NC was $39,404 and the national average was $41,807, ranking NC 22nd in the nation.
In 2014, the average teacher salary in NC was $47,783 and the national average was $57,389, ranking NC 42nd in the nation.

Adjusting for inflation, the average NC teacher salary decreased 13% from 1999 to 2014.




There's a lot more I could say about how the NC legislature pays (and treats) teachers, but I think this is enough for now. 


Now read the follow up post concerning pay for advanced degrees: Click here.

You Can't Go Home Again

Today I signed the resignation paperwork.

I no longer will be employed by the school system (or anyone for that matter) after next Tuesday. 

I went to the school today with the baby to say hello (goodbye?) and sign the paper.  It was so bittersweet.  It has been 10 weeks since I've seen those kids and a big part of me ached to go back in my classroom and just talk about what they're reading or bust out a lesson (on anything really).  But it isn't my classroom.  They aren't my students anymore.

I didn't have a PLC notebook to turn in or a positive phone log due today or a field trip to plan for.  That isn't my life any more.  I didn't even fit in with my coworkers.  They had work to do during their planning period.  I have a baby.

"Mrs. Blackmon!  Your baby is moving!"

"You're going to teach first period today, right?"

"Mrs. Blackmon! I finished After Ever After.  It was so good.  I'm so glad I finally got a copy of it."

"Mrs. Blackmon what's your baby's name?'
"I thought you had named him John, even though that isn't his name."
"Oh yeah!  I don't care what his real name is.  Hey John!"

"Mrs. Blackmon, I started Harry Potter finally.  It's amazing!  I'm on book 3, but I forgot it on the field trip yesterday and I was so mad!"

"We don't like our sub.  Can't you just come back?"

"Mrs. Blackmon do you want your book back?  Actually, I'm going to keep it because Ashley just started the series so she'll need to read it first."

"We miss you!"


I know what I'm doing is right and even ok.  But gosh, it hurts.

I was valued and respected there.  I was good at what I did.  I had the same classroom the whole time.  I was one of the two most experienced people on that hall.  And now, I'm just a visitor.  Something to ooh and ahh at but not really someone that knows the day-to-day news that they could talk to.

I had never really realized just how "home" it felt.  But it's one home I won't ever really be able to go back to again. 

Teaching Tip Thursday: Powerpoints

For some reason, asking students to create a PowerPoint presentation is still a very commonly assigned project (ooo, technology...).  However, very few teachers take the time to explain how to make a good presentation and even less actually make them then present that presentation.

This year, I assigned my advanced 7th graders a project that included a powerpoint as the final product piece.  After 2 days of the groups working on them in Google Slides, I checked in to see how they were doing and IMMEDIATELY regretted not giving any visual expectations.  I quickly put together this presentation to hopefully correct their most common mistakes. 

Feel free to use with your students as well.  (There might even be a ppt-happy teacher on your team who could benefit from these tips too!)

Thoughts on Grading Policies

When I became a teacher, one of the first decisions I had to help make was, "What will our grading policy be?"

I was working with another brand new teacher and a teacher who had been doing things for a while. We used her policy and I never questioned it. It was a similar policy to what I had seen teachers use the entire time I was in school. It was something along the lines of:

Tests/Projects 30%

Quizzes 20 %

Participation 5%

Classwork 25%

Homework 20%

We agreed to also have at least 8 grades per quarter, two of which had to be common assessments. I felt like everything was covered.

Over time and with experience, as I reflected on this policy I began to question whether it really made sense. We had a workshop on grading (which was one of the most intense staff trainings I've ever been too... turns out people are really passionate about grading) and some of my colleagues began doing some more research.

These are some of the conclusions I have since come to:

1. Grades can be divided into three main categories: assessments, processes, and practice.
Assessments: Assignments that students complete/create in order to "prove what they know."
Processes: Behaviors... things like turning assignments in on time, following rules, coming prepared, etc.
Practice: Assignments where students have just be introduced to a skill or concept and are "practicing" it.  It could be guided practice or an assignment that students worked on together or with help at home.  This is typically classwork or homework assignments.

2. What do we want a grade to be a reflection of?  I have decided that grades should be a reflection of what a student knows.  If a student knows 80% of the course material, their grade should reflect that.

3. If a grade is a reflection of what a student knows, then why do we grade processes and practice?  The most common argument I hear against this is, "If I don't grade it, they won't do it!" or "I have to teach them responsibility."  I would argue that grades are not an incentive for most students any ways and you can teach responsibility without it affecting their grade.  Instead I find that other things often matter to students more.  For example, if a student doesn't complete a homework assignment (practice) they have silent/working lunch.  Or if a student is unprepared for class, they can get a reminder (and sometimes a private conversation about why they don't have their stuff) and then a phone call home.  Parental involvement is typically way more effective than any grade, points off, or big fat zero.  Setting high expectations and holding students accountable is also pretty effective to.  Often if I just tell students an assignment is being "collected" (without saying "graded") that is enough for most of them to do it.  Kids like knowing that you will look at assignments they complete, they aren't just doing them as busy work.

Final thoughts: Just because something has "always been" doesn't mean it is right, student-centered, or logical.  Do you agree with my above conclusions?