DURHAM, N.C. — North Carolina’s House of Representatives shared its proposed state budget on Wednesday; it included a pay raise for teachers of just over 10%, over two years. That proposal would increase the average salary for a first-time teacher to around $41,000.

What You Need To Know

  • The state House shared its proposed state budget on Wednesday

  • The proposal includes a pay raise of just over 10% over two years for public school teachers

  • One Durham teacher says all school staff deserve to be paid more and valued more

It wasn’t always Alec Virgil’s dream to be an educator.

“I love teaching. I love the investment. I love to give back to the students. I love the community and connecting with people,” Alec Virgil, a teacher at Neal Middle School, said.

Now, as an eighth-grade social studies teacher in Durham, he said he can’t imagine it any other way, even if he could be making more money in a different industry.

“As a teacher, you can start out making $40,000 and live a paycheck to paycheck,” Virgil said. “Teaching is not a job that you do for a paycheck. This is not a job that you do because you didn't have anything else that was good for you. Right. This isn't that. This is the type of profession where our investments come from, giving to our students every single day. K through 12 and pre-K.”

Related: N.C. House budget proposes more for teacher raises, infrastructure

Virgil’s wife is also a teacher and he said they’re great at working together, especially when it comes to finances.

“You know, as a teacher, we have to be conservative because we get paid monthly. We do conserve and we have to budget,” Virgil said.

Still, Virgil said he believes as the cost of living continues to rise, salaries for all school staff should reflect that.

“The bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, the custodians, all of those who are in the service industry, especially in education. They all contribute to what we do every day,” Virgil said.

“Teachers are very important. Overall, teachers spend eight- to 12-hour days with the same people, the same young people, the same adults every day,” Virgil said. “It takes a village and teachers are certainly a part of the village.”

Also included in the N.C. House budget proposal was a 7.5% raise for other school employees, over two years, and a proposed cost of living adjustment of 2%, over two years, for retired state employees.

The proposed budget would also speed up the reduction of the personal income tax rate to 4.5% in 2024, increase the standard deduction for married couples filing together to $26,000, increase the child deduction by 20% in 2024 and reinstate the refundable adoption tax credit of $2,000 per child.

There’s still a long way to go before any state budget decisions are finalized. The House started deliberations on its proposal on Thursday.