RALEIGH (March 31, 2021) – Gov. Roy Cooper’s proposed state budget for 2021-23 would award long-overdue raises to educators and put a $4.7 billion bond issue on the ballot to pay for capital projects across North Carolina’s education systems.

As State Budget Director Charles Perusse noted, the governor’s proposal is just the first inning in a nine-inning negotiation with state legislators over the budget.¹ 

In fact, after the governor and legislative leaders failed to agree on a state budget in 2019 due to disagreements over teacher pay and Medicaid expansion, these might be considered extra innings. And Medicaid expansion will continue to be an issue this year.

Cooper also proposed to put $4.7 billion in general obligation bonds on the ballot this November that would provide $2.5 billion for public schools, $783 million for the UNC System – including a new medical school at East Carolina University, a STEM building at NC State and renovation of the School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill – and $500 million for the NC Community College System.

Cooper’s proposal would raise K-12 teacher pay by 10% over two years. It would raise the pay of university and community college personnel by 7.5% over two years.

In addition, public school, community college and university employees would receive a bonus of $2,000 this year, since they didn’t receive raises in 2019 or 2020. (K-12 teachers did receive a step increase in 2020, but no across-the-board raise.) And they would receive bonuses of $1,000 in each of the next two fiscal years.

Among the highlights from the governor’s education budget:

• $267.5 million in 2021-22 and $437 million in 2022-23 to raise K-12 teacher pay over two years. Cooper also would restore pay supplements for teachers with master’s degrees in the subjects they teach.

• $24 million for training in the Science of Reading and professional development for teachers and school leaders to implement literacy training.

• $2 million to increase recruitment, retention and support of teachers of color.

• $3 million for recruitment bonuses for high-needs school districts.

• $61 million in one-time funds to ensure budget stability for community colleges that saw enrollment decline due to the pandemic.

• $2.5 million for community-college staff recruitment, development and retention in high-demand fields such as construction, health sciences, information technology and manufacturing.

• $70 million for enrollment growth in the UNC System, including a new campus of the NC School of Science and Mathematics in Morganton.

• $15 million to support additional enrollment under NC Promise, which offers in-state tuition of $500 a semester at Elizabeth City State University, UNC-Pembroke and Western Carolina University.

• $15 million for additional need-based financial aid for students in the UNC System.

• $26 million for operation of new UNC System buildings that will open in 2021-22.

• $7.5 million ($1.5 million each) for support of Historically Minority-Serving Institutions: Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, UNC-Pembroke, NC Central and Winston-Salem State universities.

• $5 million to support doctoral programs at N.C. A&T State University.

• $2.5 million in additional support for small campuses, including UNC Asheville, the UNC School of the Arts and the NC School of Science and Mathematics.

• $1 million in 2021-22 and $4.7 million in 2022-23 to expand the NC Teaching Fellows program to all institutions with educator-preparation programs. The expansion would allow for 90 additional Teaching Fellows in 2021-22 and 445 in 2022-23.

• $2.6 million in 2021-22 and $2.95 million in 2022-23 to expand placement of advisors from the College Advising Corps in poor school districts.² 

COOPER’S PROPOSED CAPITAL BUDGET includes both projects that would be funded by the proposed bond issue and projects that would be funded with more conventional methods:

• The governor proposes that the $4.7 billion bond issue would be on the ballot in November. Among other projects, the bonds would go to support:
  
  • A new Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University ($187 million).
  • A new STEM Building at NC State University ($73 million).
  • A new Kenan-Flagler Business School building at UNC-Chapel Hill ($68 million).
  • Renovation of Carrington Hall for the School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill ($40.5 million).
  • A Health Sciences Center at UNC-Pembroke ($67.5 million).
  • Renovation and expansion of Randall Library at UNC-Wilmington ($56 million).
  • Renovation and expansion of Jackson Library at UNC-Greensboro ($81 million).

• Cooper proposes $393 million for repairs and renovations of state buildings over two years, with $143 million allocated to the UNC System and $100 million for energy upgrades, half of them in the UNC System.
  
  Since 2015, repair and renovation funds in the state budget have averaged roughly $100 million a year.³ Meanwhile, the UNC System’s backlog of such maintenance needs is estimated to be more than $3 billion.⁴

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¹ https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article250198890.html.
² https://files.nc.gov/ncosbm/documents/files/REC2021-23_Education.pdf.
³ https://files.nc.gov/ncosbm/documents/files/REC2021-23_Capital.pdf.
⁴ https://hew.aveltsagency.com/2019/05/substantial-unc-capital-needs/.