{"id":21688,"date":"2014-06-17T09:15:29","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T13:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=21688"},"modified":"2014-06-17T09:16:09","modified_gmt":"2014-06-17T13:16:09","slug":"small-teacher-raise-included-in-wake-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2014\/06\/17\/small-teacher-raise-included-in-wake-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Teacher Raise Included in Wake Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

While teacher raises remain questionable in the state budget, Wake County Commissioners adopted a budget that includes an additional $3.75 million to be used toward increasing the county supplement.<\/p>\n

The yearly increase, which averages between $200 and $300 per teacher, will be funded with ABC Board revenues.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Commissioners called for county staff to figure out a way to increase the county supplement so that Wake County has the highest in the state. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system previously held the top spot with a supplement of $6,400. Wake teachers will now receive anywhere between $6,400 and $6,500.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Betty Lou Ward said the increase wasn\u2019t nearly enough. She cast the lone vote against the $1.066 billion budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need more money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Caroline Sullivan agreed the budget does not fund the school system adequately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think this is going to be the best we\u2019re going to get from this board,\u201d said Sullivan, who voted for the budget because she said it funded other needed services.<\/p>\n

Sullivan called for Commissioners to consider a quarter-cent sales tax increase to be put on November\u2019s ballot to fund the school district\u2019s operating expenses and teacher salaries.<\/p>\n

Both Mecklenburg and Guilford county commissioners are expected to vote on similar actions this week.<\/p>\n

Sullivan said the district is already losing teachers who are either changing careers or moving to other areas to make more money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have a problem with them going to other counties,\u201d she said. She asked staff to include a discussion on the topic on the July agenda.<\/p>\n

Commission chair Phil Matthews said they\u2019d take it under consideration at their next agenda meeting.<\/p>\n

The budget includes a 4.4-cent tax increase to fund school construction projects, which was approved by voters last November. Last year, county staff projected a 4.86-cent increase, but decreased the amount after further review. Commissioner James West asked why that difference, $5.8 million, couldn\u2019t be used toward teacher salaries.<\/p>\n

Matthews said that it couldn\u2019t and didn’t specify why, but Deputy County Manager Johnna Rogers said, \u201cIt would be at the discretion of the board as to where you would choose to have that appropriated.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 4.3 percent increase of $13.9 million to the school district is a far cry from the $39 million increase that Wake Schools Superintendent Jim Merrill requested earlier this year that would, in part, fund a 3.5 percent across-the-board raise for teachers.<\/p>\n

County Manager Jim Hartmann included $10.2 million to fund the educational incentives proposed in Merrill\u2019s budget, and did not originally include a raise for teachers. Commissioners worked out a funding mechanism for raises at a work session last week.<\/p>\n

Some Budget Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n