By Doug Shackelford and Paul Fulton
Public Ed Works

RALEIGH (February 12, 2026) – It’s been nine months since the North Carolina House passed a bipartisan budget that would finally give our schoolchildren the support they need and the teachers the pay they deserve.

The House plan would raise starting teacher salaries to $50,000 next year, putting us near the top of the Southeast instead of below our neighbors – even Mississippi!

It passed the House with overwhelming support: 86–20, including a majority of Democrats, and earned Democratic Gov.Josh Stein’s support.

Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, led the charge because he knows what every parent and educator already knows: We can’t build strong local schools without investing in the people who run them.

Teachers, after all, create all other professions.

And yet, here we are. The state Senate still refuses to act. They haven’t just blocked teacher raises—they’ve blocked basic inflation adjustments for state employees across the board.

We are the only state in the entire country that has failed to pass a budget for 2025-26.

WHAT MAKES this even harder to swallow is the fact that our state is thriving. We’re the third‑fastest‑growing state in America and on track to become the seventh‑largest state.

We have the resources. What we don’t have is leadership in the state Senate willing to put those resources to work for the people who keep our state running.

Look at the numbers: As a share of our Gross Domestic Product, North Carolina spends less on K–12 education than any other state. Dead last: 50th out of 50.

That is embarrassing!

Senate leaders say they can’t support the House budget because it delays a tax cut until we know whether projected revenue actually comes in.

That’s not some radical, left-wing idea. It’s basic common sense. You don’t cut your income before you know what your income will be. The House understands that. The Senate refuses to be wise and prudent.

The Senate rejected the House plan outright. Why?

We’re left with the same questions we’ve asked since last May:

•Why won’t Senate leaders support a budget that has broad, bipartisan backing?

•Why won’t they invest in our children, teachers, local schools and communities?

•Is this leadership?

North Carolina’s future depends on strong local schools and a workforce that feels valued. The House offered a reasonable path forward.

Doug Shackelford and Paul Fulton are former deans of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC-Chapel Hill and board members at Public Ed Works.