NC teachers will get $350 bonuses and step-increase raises
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a bill Friday that means thousands of teachers will get bonuses and step-increase raises this fall.
All teachers and instructional support personnel will get one-time, $350 bonuses, paid by Oct. 31. Many teachers will also get step-increase raises, which are based on longevity.
Teachers have not had raises this past year from the General Assembly. The amount of raises, along with Medicaid expansion, were the center of the months-long budget battle between the Republican-majority legislature and Cooper and Democratic lawmakers.
Cooper signed SB 818, called Compensation for Certain School Employees, as well as eight other bills on Friday. The General Assembly ended its legislative short session in the pre-dawn hours Friday.
“I signed this bill because it funds step increases for teachers that have already been promised, but it falls outrageously short on raises we need to give teachers and all school personnel like bus drivers and cafeteria workers,” Cooper said in a statement.
“The Legislature must make educator pay a top priority when they come back in September,” the governor said.
The General Assembly plans another week of non-voting sessions, then returns on Sept. 2.
During debate in the Senate earlier this month, Democrats wanted more money for teachers as well as non-certified school personnel.
The House vote on SB 818 was taken without amendments or debate because of a procedural move by the Republican leadership. The amendments that weren’t heard would have increased the bonuses to $900 as well as give them to cafeteria workers and other non-certified school personnel.
The House vote on the bill was 84-35, with several Democrats voting with Republicans. After the vote, Democratic Leader Darren Jackson of Wake County explained why he voted against the bill.
“I’m really taken aback by the fact that we are not doing anything for our non-certified personnel in this bill,” Jackson said, including bus drivers who have been serving meals to kids since schools closed in mid-March.
“It’s not that teachers don’t deserve a step increase or don’t deserve a $350 bonus,” Jackson said. He said he was disappointed the legislature was not doing more.
Because there is a Republican majority in the House, it could have passed without Democratic support.
House Speaker Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, said after it passed that the amount of money was what they thought the state could afford.
“Look at the people who don’t have a job right now. We want to do all we can. We’re now facing one of the greatest financial crises of our lifetime, certainly the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. The fact that we can do any kind of bonus is amazing,” Moore previously told The News & Observer.
The Senate vote, which was 33-16, also fell mostly along party lines. Some Senate Democrats called the bonuses not enough.
Cooper signed these eight other bills on Friday:
▪ HB 511: North Carolina First Step Act.
▪ SB 811: Connect NC Park Facilities Operating Reserves.
▪ SB 812: Agricultural Sciences Center Funds.
▪ SB 814: NC Promise Tuition Plan Funds.
▪ HB 679: Rules of Civil Procedure/E-Filing and Service.
▪ HB 218: Salary Related Contribution/Debt Service Funds.
▪ HB 307: Modified Utility Vehicle Classification.
▪ SB 719: Retirement Tech./Protect/& Other Changes.
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This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 3:31 PM with the headline "NC teachers will get $350 bonuses and step-increase raises."
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