Thousands of North Carolina educators rallied for better pay and greater school investments in 2019. They will return to Raleigh on May 1, 2026 with a similar message. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)
Medora Burke-Scoll drove an hour from Mebane to Raleigh early Thursday morning to join other educators urging state lawmakers to repeal the scheduled elimination of the North Carolina corporate income tax.
Burke-Scoll, a science teacher at Eastern High School and president of the Alamance-Burlington Association of Educators, said her school district simply cannot afford to lose more funding.
Of the 38 schools in the Alamance-Burlington school district, only nine met academic growth expectations last year.
“We are watching student outcomes decline. And as both a teacher and a parent, it’s heartbreaking,” said Burke-Scoll. “This didn’t happen by accident. This is the result of choices.”
Last year, the General Assembly failed to enact a new budget. Public schools tightened their belts. This year, scheduled tax cuts mean that state revenue will decline again next year, and that could mean less funding for teacher raises and classroom needs.
Alamance Co. science teacher Medora Burke-Scoll said during a April 23, 2026 press conference her school district cannot afford to do more with less. (Photo: NCGA video)“We recently lost one of our strongest veteran math teachers,” said Burke-Scoll. “She was working two additional jobs as a single parent. And when a higher paying opportunity came along, she told me she felt like she had no choice.”
At the same time, Burke-Scoll said Alamance County has lost graduation coaches, behavior specialists, literary specialists, and testing coordinators.
“We’re given mandates from the state, but we’re not given the staffing to make those mandates a reality,” said Burke-Scoll.
Senator Natalie Murdock (D-Durham) joined Burke-Scoll and other educators to announce that she will file the “Kids Over Corporations Act” next week.
The bill will repeal the scheduled elimination of the North Carolina corporate income tax, Murdock said. It will also establish a permanent corporate tax rate of 5%, effective in tax year 2026.
“Every single one of our neighboring states has a corporate tax rate of 5% or higher,” said Murdock. “South Carolina charges corporations 5% and ranks 25 spots higher in education funding rankings than North Carolina.”
Murdock said on Wednesday she met with the leaders of a global biopharmaceutical company that will be investing $1.4 billion in the city of Durham.
“Companies from all over the world come here for our workforce and our phenomenal schools. That requires a strong public education system. Without stable education funding, you cannot produce a strong workforce,” said Murdock.
By 2030, corporations will pay zero in state income tax in North Carolina.
Murdock said for her, “the math does not math,” and corporations are simply not asking for this.
“That is not accountable,” said Murdock. “I’m calling on my colleagues in the General Assembly on both sides of the aisle to take a serious look at this bill, look at the numbers and make a different choice.”
The corporate income tax is actually a very small part of state revenue – only about 5%, according to N.C. Budget and Tax Center. Personal income tax makes up 50% of revenue, and that’s scheduled to be cut, too, which will have a much larger impact on the budget.
As NC Newsline reported earlier this week, House and Senate Republicans disagree on the timing of automatic tax cuts baked into the budget that are triggered when the state hits given revenue targets.
Senate President Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) has dismissed projections that the scheduled tax cuts will leave a budgetary shortfall.
“If we control the growth in state spending, the state budget will be just fine,” Berger told reporters on Tuesday.
NC lawmakers, advocates push Leandro funding as 2026 legislative session opens in Raleigh
Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said North Carolina now ranks 50th in the country in public school funding effort.
“With our corporate tax rates set to shrink yet again, there has been a lot of talk in Raleigh about a fiscal cliff. I will tell you that North Carolina public schools have been falling off a fiscal cliff for years,” said Walker Kelly, an elementary music teacher from Cumberland County.
“It is time to stop the giveaways and fund what really matters. We refuse to keep paying the price for corporate greed,” Walker Kelly said.
The NCAE plans to drive home that point on May 1, when thousands of teachers and education supporters converge on Halifax Mall in Raleigh to demand increased funding for public schools, an end to policies prioritizing tax cuts over students, and greater accountability for voucher spending.
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