Thousands of educators, advocates and allies converged on Raleigh Friday, demanding higher pay for teachers, more state support per student, more childcare funding, and more funding for special education.
The May Day rally crowd, dressed in red, nearly filled Halifax Mall, the open area behind the state legislative building, before setting out on a march around the capitol two blocks away.
The protest, organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators, comes as North Carolina lawmakers continue to wrangle over the state spending plan. They were unable to pass one in 2025, leaving teachers and state employees without raises and schools without extra classroom funding.
Currently, the state ranks 46th in the nation for average teacher pay, lower than any of its neighboring states. It is the only state in the nation where teacher pay is projected to fall in 2026.
Justin Parmenter has been a seventh-grade language arts instructor in Charlotte since 2006. Parmenter made the trek to Raleigh on Friday because, he said, policy choices made by Republican legislative leadership have left teachers feeling undervalued.
He points to the loss of master’s pay and longevity pay as one reason dedicated teachers feel their expertise is being discounted.
“Certainly it’s important to have beginning teacher pay be attractive,” Parmenter told NC Newsline. “But at the same time, when you are 20 years into your career and you hit a long stretch with no raises at all, it’s hard to feel valued as a veteran educator.”
“Our veteran educators bring a ton of institutional knowledge. They’re great at mentoring new teachers,” he added. “Unless we make our veteran teachers feel valued and prioritize that, they’re going to leave and find greener pastures.”
Parmenter also wants public tax dollars to stay in public schools, a sentiment voiced by many speakers at Friday’s rally. North Carolina spent $625 million on private school vouchers, also known as Opportunity Scholarships, in the current school year alone.
The program now serves more than 106,000 students. Data has shown the program primarily benefits wealthy private school families.
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Gov. Josh Stein’s recommended budget would phase out the Opportunity Scholarship program. Parmenter doesn’t think legislators will take that step this summer, but says they can at least increase accountability by requiring private schools that accept the vouchers to abide by the same rules required of public schools.
“Have a level playing field where all schools have to report test scores, provide transportation, and allow any student who has special needs adequate support to get the same education that everyone else is getting,” Parmenter said. “Those are all things that public schools do for our children that private schools do not have to do.”
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SUPPORTCeil O’Loughlin, a retired Wake County educator who taught for three decades, told NC Newsline she came to Halifax Mall to demand higher wages for teachers. She, too, criticized programs funneling money away from public schools through private school vouchers.
“It’s our Republican legislature that’s been trying to save money by not educating children,” O’Loughlin said. “When the Democrats were in charge and we had a Democratic legislature, we had support. And then once the Republicans moved in, they started shifting where the money was gonna go.”
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