North Carolina News Service
| September 30, 2015 | Available files: mp3 wav jpg |
Stephanie Carson
RALEIGH, N.C. - Teachers in Asheville and the rest of the state aren't surprised by North Carolina's ranking as the second worst state in the country for teachers.
The listing, in a report released this week by WalletHub, cited a reduction in funding, increased classroom sizes and stagnant teacher salaries as just some of the reasons for the state making the bottom of the list.
The situation is prompting local organizations such as the Asheville City Schools Foundation to step in and help, said advocacy coordinator Spencer Cranfill.
"You want to really help out and you want to fix these holes," he said, "but you don't want to be the beacon for folks that are cutting things from the state budget and have them say, 'Oh, look, well, if we cut this, we then we have this other organization that will fill it back up.' "
The state's ranking is based on statistics from last school year and does not factor salary information from the current state budget, which gives no permanent raise to veteran teachers in the state and offers a one-time bonus of $750 for the state's most experienced educators. Last year the state ranked 51st in the nation, one place below this year.
WalletHub spokeswoman Jill Gonzalez said the rankings are similar to last year's - and the data has consequences for student achievement.
"We did find a direct correlation between the student test scores and these low teacher salaries," she said. "We've seen year after year that when we look at grades four and eight, (and) when we look at high school tests as well, they are consistently in the bottom five."
North Carolina's neighboring state of Virginia ranked as the second best state in which to work as a teacher. South Carolina ranked 46th and Tennessee 34th. Texas, which repeatedly has held job fairs in the state to recruit teachers, ranked 26th.
The study is online at wallethub.com.