North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s battle with the state’s Republican-controlled legislature over funding for education shows no signs of slowing anytime soon.
The Center Square reported one on the most volatile issues continues to be how much of a pay raise teachers should receive as part of the new state budget.
While Cooper has proposed an 8.5 percent increase over two years and insists the whole budget standoff has lingered only because of tactics used by Republicans, that side has blasted his claims as “misinformation” and pointed to what they say is his history of shortchanging teachers.
“The reality is that Gov. Cooper has vetoed every teacher pay raise and billions in education funding during his time in office, and the only thing blocking raises and funding the legislature already passed this year is his Medicaid expansion-or-nothing ultimatum,” Sen. Harry Brown, R-Jones, told The Center Square.
Cooper recently vetoed a budget proposal that called for a 3.8 percent raise for teachers along with a bonus within two years because he argued it “did not prioritize people.”
“Gov. Cooper’s attempts to paint himself as teachers' strongest advocate in North Carolina are laughable considering what he has blocked during his time in office,” Brown said.
Overall, the state of North Carolina ranks No. 29 across the country in teacher pay and second in the Southeast, according to the National Education Association.
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