NC Teacher Pay To Historic Levels
Press Release — Thursday, July 14, 2016
Governor McCrory Signs Budget Providing Monumental Teacher Pay Increases and Tax Relief for Middle Class Families
Monroe, N.C. – Average teacher pay in North Carolina will be more than $50,000 for the first time in state history under North Carolina’s newest budget signed today by Governor Pat McCrory. The governor signed the $22.3 billion state budget today surrounded by teachers, local elected officials and legislators at Shiloh Elementary School in Union County. The budget makes key investments to strengthen education, provide tax relief for middle class families, make college more affordable and improve the health of our communities and bolster the state’s savings reserves.
“This budget further fulfills my vision to increase average annual teacher pay to $50,000 for the first time in state history, provides a middle class tax cut, makes college more affordable and makes much needed investments to improve mental health services, all while strengthening our position as one of the fastest growing economies in the nation,” said Governor McCrory. “We look forward to building on our successes through these important investments for North Carolina’s future.”
The highlight of this year’s budget is investing in North Carolina teachers to ensure it recruits and retains the best and brightest to prepare students for future success. Teachers will receive an average 4.7 percent pay increase, bringing average teacher pay in North Carolina above $50,000 for the first time in state history. When considering robust health and retirement benefits offered to every full-time teacher in our state, the budget will boost average total compensation to more than $67,000. Teacher pay in North Carolina is growing faster than in any other state in the country under Governor McCrory’s leadership. Since 2013, North Carolina has invested more than $1 billion in new funding for teacher raises.
The budget also provides funding to empower schools to trade textbooks for tablets so students can learn anytime, anywhere using the latest information available. When Governor McCrory entered office, just 22 percent of classrooms were connected to robust Wi-Fi. Investments included in the budget will help ensure 100 percent of classrooms are connected to Wi-Fi by 2018. The budget also increases funding in textbooks and digital resources, which has now tripled under Governor McCrory’s leadership to $71.5 million.
Additionally, the budget builds on the governor’s record of pro-growth tax reform by providing a middle class tax cut anticipated to save taxpayers $132 million over the next year. By increasing the personal income tax standard deduction by $2,000 for married filing jointly and proportionately for other filers, the budget puts more dollars in the paychecks of North Carolinians and eliminates income taxes for approximately 75,000 taxpayers.
To further support North Carolina families, this budget makes college more affordable. Starting with students entering this fall, this budget will freeze undergraduate tuition for students at all University of North Carolina schools who graduate in four years, or five years for those in five-year programs. Fee increases are now capped at 3 percent annually and tuition is dropped to $500 per semester for in-state students at Elizabeth City State University, UNC-Pembroke and Western Carolina University.
The budget also upholds Governor McCrory’s philosophy of helping those who can’t help themselves while encouraging those who can. The budget fulfills the governor’s call for much needed investments to help those with mental health and substance use issues across the state by investing $20 million to implement recommendations of the Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Use.
The bipartisan budget grows responsibly by 2.8 percent, which is more slowly than the rate of population plus inflation and is balanced, consistent with the state constitution and responsible governance. In line with responsible fiscal management, the budget invests $473 million in the state’s rainy day fund, bringing the reserve to an all-time high of nearly $1.6 billion.
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(This post and all its contents are entirely a press release from The Office of Governor Pat McCrory.)
Fourteen graduate from EMT-Paramedic training at VGCC
Vance-Granville Community College honored 11 men and three women who completed the college’s year-long Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic program on July 13.
The graduates included Michael Hunter Robbins of Bunn; Catherine Garner of Creedmoor; Fuller Caton, Herbert Hill Davis, James Hughes, Cassidy Ivey, William Jenkins, Tyler McDaniel and Courtney Moss, all of Henderson; David Drumheller of Mebane; Jonathan Kraemer of Raleigh; Harvey Grim of Roxboro; Joseph Farlow of Timberlake; and C.J. Phillips of Youngsville.
Vivian Loyd, a Registered Nurse and Paramedic Level II instructor, was the instructor for the class.
EMT-Paramedic instruction includes 596 hours of didactic (classroom) training and 500 hours of clinical education, or field internship. To be eligible to take the EMT-P course, students had to have already completed a 203-hour EMT-Basic course and passed a state exam.
An EMT-Paramedic has enhanced skills beyond the EMT-Basic level, including being able to administer additional interventions and medications. The EMT-P delivers the highest level of pre-hospital medical care in North Carolina.
In order to successfully complete the EMT-P course, students had to pass several different exams, including a “scope of practice” exam. This scenario-based evaluation tested the hands-on and critical thinking skills of students, as they delivered the appropriate treatment to multiple trauma patients and dealt with pediatric, environmental, and mental-illness situations. Each student also had to complete an 80-hour Anatomy and Physiology course.
Now that students have completed the EMT-P course, they must take the 100-question North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services credentialing exam to become state-certified.
VGCC offers Emergency Medical Services training from the basic to the Paramedic level, in addition to continuing education. For more information on enrolling in these courses, call Stephen Barney at (252) 738-3273.
New Principal Named at Northern Vance High School
Andrew Markoch has been named as the new principal at Northern Vance High School.
The Vance County Board of Education officially appointed Markoch to his new position during a special meeting Wednesday night.
Markoch will join Vance County Schools after serving as an assistant principal at Wake Forest High School in Wake Forest and the principal of the school’s Ninth Grade Center. He has been an administrator at the school since July of 2003.
Markoch, who lives in Rolesville, is a graduate of the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree in music education from the university in 1988. He also earned a master of arts degree in educational administration from Akron in 2001. In May of 2003, Markoch completed course work for principal licensure, with a focus on curriculum, at the University of Akron.
During his time with the Wake County Public School System in Wake Forest, Markoch has had extensive experience in management and school leadership. He facilitated the academic growth of a comprehensive high school in Wake Forest focusing on the instructional and social development of students as they adjust from middle school to high school. From 2007 to 2011, he worked with educators in the Ninth Grade Center as its on-site principal and was responsible for implementing the vision and operation of the center from its origins as an academy to a full-fledged school operating as part of a comprehensive high school. He then worked with faculty leaders to plan and facilitate the center’s move from an off-site location to become an on-site program serving ninth graders at the high school. The Ninth Grade Center continues today as an on-site facility.
In his capacity as principal of the Ninth Grade Center, Markoch notes that he has encouraged a school culture that is achievement based, student centered and data driven, while welcoming parents and stakeholders as an integral part of the school environment.
