RALEIGH (May 14, 2026) – We don’t know all the important details yet, but we’re grateful to state legislators for their announcement this week that they’ve agreed on an average raise of 8% for our state’s public-school teachers.
In particular, we’re grateful to House Speaker Destin Hall and House Appropriations Senior Chair Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth, for standing their ground in negotiations with the state Senate.
As the only state in the nation that hasn’t adopted a budget for 2025-26, North Carolina ranks 46th in average teacher pay, and House leaders made a bold proposal last year to raise teacher pay significantly.1
Yet the state continues to operate under a budget that was adopted in 2023.
The agreement announced Tuesday would raise starting teacher pay to $48,000, not counting local supplements.
Senate leader Phil Berger said legislators should hammer out a final budget by mid-June – we are eager to see more detail about the raises and any tradeoffs in the overall budget.
But from what we know now, we’re hopeful about the final product.
1 https://publicedworks.org/2025/07/house-budget-is-better-for-our-teachers-and-kids/.
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