This week, all eyes are on the House as North Carolina representatives present and debate their budget proposal for the 2025-27 biennium. Our analysis takes a deeper dive into all educator pay proposals so far– from Governor Josh Stein, the NC House, and the NC Senate.
Since the beginning of the 2025 long session at the NC Legislature, we’ve seen a number of proposals to increase teacher pay. In addition to two standalone bills– H192 (Raise Teacher Pay & Dollar Allot. Study) and S659 (Investing in North Carolina Act), all three budget proposals (from Governor Stein, the Senate, and the House) have included recommendations for teacher pay increases. So, what’s included in each of these recommendations? And what might the final salary schedule for teachers actually look like?
What’s included in each proposal?
The largest proposed teacher pay raise came from H192, which includes a 22% increase across the board and reinstates master’s pay for the 2025-26 school year, although this increase was not included in the House budget. The proposed Governor’s, Senate, and House budgets will drive further conversations around salary for the compromise budget.
For the 2026-27 school year, each budget draft proposes the following:
| Governor’s Budget | Senate Budget | House Budget | |
| Minimum Starting Salary | $51,200 | $41,510 | $50,000 |
| 10-Year Teacher | $55,200 | $49,970 | $52,650 |
| 25-Year Teacher | $59,200 | $56,650 | $57,820 |
| Average Increase | 10.6% | 2.3% | 8.7% |
| Reinstate Masters Pay? | Yes | No | Yes |
Both the Governor and House budget proposals would move teacher compensation in a positive direction for North Carolina. Beginning teachers, in particular, would see more immediate and larger raises in both the House and the Governor’s budget; more significant raises for veteran teachers are also in the Governor’s proposal. Both proposals would improve North Carolina’s national ranking in teacher pay–most recently 43rd overall and 38th for beginning teachers. The Senate, by comparison, has proposed notably smaller raises for teachers across the board.
What will final raises actually look like?
A lot remains to be seen as a conference committee, composed of both House and Senate members, is formed and budget negotiations continue. If recent budgeting years offer any indication, the final budget will likely include a teacher raise falling somewhere between what the House and Senate offered (10.6% and 2.3% respectively over the biennium). Alongside many other policy priorities, the final number will be dictated by North Carolina’s fiscal forecast, which currently projects a budget deficit in the near future due to declining state revenue from corporate and personal income tax cuts.
The legislature aims to finalize the state budget by June 30 (the end of the fiscal year).
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