A bill filed this week in the Senate would restore master’s pay for certain educators.
Senate Bill 202, titled “An Act to Reinstate Education-Based Salary Supplements For Certain Teachers and Instructional Support Personnel. was filed by Sen. Danny Earl Britt, a Republican from Robeson County.
North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly eliminated additional pay for advanced degrees in 2013, citing studies that show those degrees do not guarantee student success. Competing studies show that teachers with advanced degrees are more effective at improving student achievement.
Since 2013, multiple have been filed to bring back master’s pay, including Senate Bill 28, a bipartisan attempt in 2019 titled “Restore Master’s Pay for Certain Teachers.”
States have traditionally offered extra pay for advanced degrees as a recruitment and retention tool and to reward teachers who further their education.
Under SB 202, certified nurses and instructional support personnel in roles in which a master’s degree is required for receive a salary supplement.
SB 202 would also restore master’s pay for teachers and instructional support personnel who were paid for advanced degrees or received the supplement before the 2014-15 school year.
Teachers and instructional support personnel who complete an advanced degree for which they completed at lease one course before August 1, 2013 would also be eligible for the supplement.
And teachers who spend at least 70% of their “work time in classroom instruction related to their graduate academic preparation in their field or within their subject area of licensure” would also be eligible for the salary supplement.
The current budget provides $6.8 million in recurring funds to provide education-based salary supplements for certain teachers and instructional support personnel as authorized by this act. The supplement would begin with the 2023-2024 school year.
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