CMS school board member fears teacher exodus as result of state budget stalemate

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Amid a mostly celebratory school board meeting on Tuesday night, member Summer Nunn warned of the consequences of the lack of a state budget. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education approved raises for its teachers for the new school year, but those haven’t come to fruition.

Despite having a July 1 deadline, the N.C. General Assembly has failed

to come up with a budget for the current fiscal year, from which those funds are derived.

In April, the school board approved a 3 percent salary increase assumption for all staff, including teachers and classified staff, plus an average 5 percent increase in teacher supplements and ongoing investments in teacher growth and professional development. 

The district’s starting pay for a 10-month certified teacher with a Bachelor’s degree is supposed to be $48,943, and $57,143 for 12 months. For those with a Master’s, it’s $54,083 for 10 months and $63,103 for 12. 

A teacher with a bachelor’s degree tops out after 31 years at more than $81,000. Nunn fears that teachers at CMS may flee to South Carolina schools without the raises they were promised. 

“Without competitive pay, especially in counties bordering South Carolina, we are at a clear disadvantage in attracting and keeping great educators,” she said. 

She said the county’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee is reaching out to surrounding districts in the NC Southwest Region to “put together a unified message” to the NCGA. The group’s focus is on fair pay for teachers and calendar flexibility. 

“Without flexibility in our calendar, we limit our ability to meet the needs of our students in our communities,” Nunn said. 

The school board meeting was otherwise filled with the recently released state numbers showing how much CMS improved in the 2024-25 school year. Students were above state average in overall grade-level proficiency with significant increases in Reading Grades 3-8 (5.2%), Math Grades 3-8 (4.6%), and Math III (8.2%). In addition, 156 (89.1%) CMS schools met or exceeded growth, and 115 (65.7%) schools exceeded growth.