Rep. Brian Biggs (Photo: NC General Assembly)
A top House Republican said teacher pay will be a top priority as state lawmakers head into the short session later this month.
Rep. Brian Biggs (R-Randolph), chair of the House Education Committee, said the state must offer meaningful raises, not small increases that fail to keep teachers in the profession.
Speaking Tuesday at the Public School Forum of North Carolina’s “Eggs & Issues Breakfast,” Biggs called education “nonnegotiable.”
“I want to make sure that teachers can buy houses, raise families, and that’s a big priority we have,” Biggs said during a panel discussion. “Education to me is not something that you can trade off.”
Lawmakers return to Raleigh facing divisions over spending and a projected budget gap in the coming years. Teacher pay remains one of the few areas of broad agreement, though they differ on how much to increase salaries and how to structure those raises.
Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch (D-Wake) said negotiations have stalled because Senate Republicans refuse to engage.
“The Senate Republicans have not come to the table in a genuine way,” Batch said.
North Carolina ranks 43rd nationally in teacher pay. The average salary of $58,292 sits nearly $14,000 below the national average, leaving the state trailing every neighbor, including South Carolina and Tennessee.
North Carolina has not passed a full budget in more than two years, and was the only state in the country to end 2025 without one, delaying pay increases for teachers. The House proposal would increase average pay by 8.7% over two years and give starting teachers a 22% raise. The Senate plan is smaller, offering about 3.3% over the same period, supplemented by one-time bonuses.
NC lawmakers, still at impasse, leave town with new voting map but no budget or Medicaid fix
A newly proposed budget plan from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein would give teachers nearly a 6% raise on average. The plan would also restore extra pay for teachers with master’s degrees and provide larger raises for veteran teachers and school leaders.
Biggs said work on the budget is already underway. “We’re working now, getting ready for this short, long session,” Biggs said. “If we’re there December 31, that’s fine. We’re going to get it done.”
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