Reblogged from The Washington Post’s Answer Sheet

When the North Carolina Senate late last month rolled out a new step salary schedule for teachers, it was reported in the state media as offering a big raise to educators while taking away job protections. But the new plan isn’t exactly what it seems. It  “incentivizes” teachers at specific experience levels to leave the classroom and find another profession. Educator James Hogan explains what lawmakers did in the following post.  The final version may look different when the House and Senate compromise, but this is a look at senators are thinking…

The new salary schedule has a couple of curiosities, however. First, it keeps teacher pay flat through the first four years of a teacher’s career to the tune of $33,000 per year, a clear distinction from Governor Pat McCrory’s pay proposal. Then, the Senate scale increases teacher pay $1,000 for every year of service through a teacher’s twentieth year–still not bad. Keep your job another year, earn a grand…

But then, oddly, teacher pay flattens again–teachers earn the same $50,000 wage from years 20-29. That’s a decade of service without a pay raise. In year 30, teachers earn just $42 more…

This is where the decision to give up career status becomes very important. Make no mistake–the Senate pay scale rewards young teachers and pushes older teachers out in the last third of their career. Read more>>