Does North Carolina offer the lowest teacher pay in the South?
US AFTER OUR OUTREACH SAID THAT
THEY EXPECT BUSINESS AS USUAL.
LENA, OK? THANK YOU, ASHLEY.
NORTH CAROLINA. DEMOCRATS ARE
CALLING ON STATE LAWMAKERS TO
BOOST TEACHER PAY BY PASSING A
FULL STATE BUDGET. THE PARTY
SAYS TEACHER SALARIES ARE LOWER
IN NORTH CAROLINA THAN ANYWHERE
ELSE IN THE SOUTH. PLUS
PAYCHECKS THAT CLAIM FOR
POLITIFACT.
OUR TEACHER SALARIES IN NORTH
CAROLINA LOWER THAN EVERYWHERE
ELSE IN THE SOUTH. WELL.
>> THAT'S WHAT ANDERSON CLAYTON
SAID THE OTHER DAY. SHE'S THE
CHAIR OF THE NORTH CAROLINA
DEMOCRATIC PARTY. AND YOU CAN
SEE IN THAT RECENT PRESS
RELEASE, SHE SAID OUR TEACHERS
ARE THE LOWEST PAID IN THE
SOUTH. NOW IS THIS RIGHT?
WELL, NOT ACCORDING TO DATA
COLLECTED BY THE NATIONAL
EDUCATION ASSOCIATION, WHICH IS
THE LARGEST TEACHERS UNION IN
THE COUNTRY. THEY MEASURE
AVERAGE TEACHER SALARIES IN
STARTING TEACHER SALARIES
NATIONWIDE WERE 43RD FOR
AVERAGE SALARIES AND 39TH FOR
STARTING SALARIES. ACCORDING
TO THE MOST RECENT DATA.
NOW IN THE SOUTH THAT IS LOWER
THAN SEVERAL OTHER STATES.
BUT IT'S NOT THE LOWEST.
THE ASSOCIATION REPORTS THAT
MISSISSIPPI IS LOWER IN BOTH
CATEGORIES. NOW THE TEACHERS
UNION CONSIDERS TOTAL PAY AS
AND EVERYTHING TO DO IS TAKE
HOME. A GROUP KNOWN AS PUBLIC
SCHOOLS. FIRST, A LOCAL
NONPROFIT LOOKED ONLY AT WHAT
STATE GOVERNMENTS PROVIDE THE
EXCLUDED, WHAT'S CALLED
SUPPLEMENTAL PAY, WHICH OFTEN
COMES FROM COUNTY GOVERNMENTS.
AND THEY FOUND HIS NONPROFIT
FOUND. IF YOU ONLY LOOK AT
STATE PAY THE NORTH CAROLINA'S
IS THE LOWEST LOW OR EVEN THEN
MISSISSIPPI. SO BY THIS METRIC,
CLAYTON IS RIGHT. OTHERWISE,
THOUGH, MOST OTHER DATA DOES
NOT SUPPORT HER CLAIM. AND
READ MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE AT
WRAL COM. OKAY. THANK YOU.
OUR POLITIFACT TEAM CHECK
STATEMENTS FROM PEOPLE ACROSS
THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM. YOU
WOULD LIKE TO SEE US FACT CHECK
SOMETHING. PLEASE REACH OUT TO