Teacher pay raises mean more local costs as state funding falls short yet again

Estimated cost of funding state-mandated pay raises for locally funded teaching positions by school district

Estimated local costs were calculated using the number of locally funded teacher positions reported for the 2025-26 school year. These positions were compared with the number of state-funded teaching positions to calculate each district's local-to-state ratio. The analysis assumes every locally funded teacher position is filled by a beginning-level teacher receiving the full $7,000 base pay increase. When compared with cost figures reported by individual counties, these estimates appear to be a conservative estimate of the potential local costs.
Chart: NC Budget & Tax CenterSource: NC Department of Public InstructionGet the data