Essay Sample on Teacher Pay in North Carolina

Introduction

Teaching is a noble profession that requires a lot of concentration and focus. In the United States of America, teachers are paid based on the terms of provision, experience and the time or period that a teacher has been in service. In many cases, there is always pay increase based on the government stipulations as well as the government remuneration agencies. In North Carolina, teacher pay is based on schedule, on the other hand, different factors such as location and experience may mean a difference in the tune of thousands of dollars. After certain periods of time, the teacher's pay is normally reviewed to ensure that every teacher is rightfully entitled to the correct amount of income (Clotfelter et al. 16). In the processes of enumeration, several factors are usually considered. For instance, the house allowances are normally calculated and added to the salary; this, therefore, means that teachers living in towns and other areas where the house rent is high are paid more than those that live in the low-income areas. Additionally, transportation and hardship allowances are considered when it comes to the salary. In accordance with the above factors, North Carolina teacher's pay may be regarded as one of the best systems of payment in the entire United States of America. The paper, therefore, discusses different aspects of teacher pay in North Carolina.

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The ABC11 I-team analyzed the payment systems for diverse districts in the States of North Carolina, the review incorporated both the private and wake county public school systems (WCPSS). Based on the survey, the above groups of district schools have over ten thousands four hundred and twenty teachers in the 2017 and 2018 school calendar. Based on the above data, sixty-four per cent of the teachers i.e. 6,644 teachers make close to $50, 000 in one year (Goldhaber 9). Additionally, almost half of the teachers are making more than $60,000 annually. Over the years, there has been a remarkable debate on the pay rise of teachers in North Carolina. In the year 2014, the legislative leaders stated that they gave teachers over 7% pay rise (Lavy 14). The above increase, however, did not take into account bonuses to the teachers that have been in service for over ten years in the region. In other words, the new payment rate did incorporate bonuses that were supposed to be paid. The actual increase in teacher's pay varies significantly, with the huge increases favoring the newest teachers.

In North Carolina, the system of paying teachers often vary significantly. The lawmakers usually have a big influence when it comes to the restructuring of the payment systems. The regulation of the payment systems is often dictated by the state budget as well as the wage bill that frequently needs to be controlled. Therefore, the payment structure usually changes almost yearly. The North Carolina education agency expects to add over five thousand teachers into the teaching service at all levels by the year 2024. The above case, therefore, means that there will be more wages or salary to be paid. However, with the adequate preparation and frequent designs of the payment structure, North Carolina is expected to come up with the appropriate or accurate payment system that will not only favour teachers, but also other personnel in the education system.

In addition to the payment that teachers get from the state government, there is a federal program that aims at rewarding teachers who commit to teach in low-income areas. After teaching in this environment for over five years, the federal governments often forgive up to seventeen thousand five hundred US dollars in federal loans. The above scenario, therefore, means that on top of the minimum salary plus the allowances that a teacher from North Carolina gets, the teachers in the low-income schools usually finds an opportunity to get the above loan. Apart from the federal government, North Carolina also offers the opportunity for the above form of loans, The Forgivable Educational Loans for Service. The state offers $20,000 in undergraduate loans for the students who want to work in schools experiencing a shortage of teachers. The above chance includes teaching in any charter or public school in North Carolina. In addition to the above loan, the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program for the loan of close to $8,200 every year for the students who are willing to work as special teachers in the public schools of North Carolina (Vigdor 17).

Currently, the position of North Carolina in terms of teachers pay is increasing every year. The average teacher's pay has jumped to $50,000 for the first time in history. However, the US economic survey ranks the state 37 among all the states in the United States of America. The above figure, however, is $9,600 below the federal average wage (Vigdor 18). The teacher pay in North Carolina is expected to be $50, 861this year in accordance to the National Education Association; this is an increase from the previous figure which was at $49,970 last year. Going by the above increase, the average salary for a United States' teacher is at $60, 483(Vigdor 19). From the above information, the North Carolina state government needs to adjust the payment structure so as to match the national or federal payment system. Going by the ranking, there is a need for improvement when it comes to the teacher pay. In most cases, improving the teacher's salary can result in the general increase in the performance as the teachers will fell motivated.

Works Cited

Clotfelter, Charles, et al. "Would higher salaries keep teachers in high-poverty schools? Evidence from a policy intervention in North Carolina." Journal of Public Economics 92.5-6 (2008): 1352-1370.

Goldhaber, Dan. "Teacher pay reforms: The political implications of recent research." (2006): 2009-05.

Lavy, Victor. "Using performance-based pay to improve the quality of teachers." The future of children (2007): 87-109.

Vigdor, Jacob L. "Teacher salary bonuses in North Carolina." Conference paper, National Center on Performance Incentives.0.026. 2008.