Our discussions on teacher pay are usually limited to salary. A correct understanding of teacher pay also includes compensation for benefits such as health insurance, retirement benefits and social security.
How has the value of benefits North Carolina teachers receive changed over the years?
In 2005-06 the average teacher salary in North Carolina was $43,922. The value of teacher benefits (Health Insurance, Retirement Benefits and Social Security) was $10, 103. Thus total teacher compensation was $54,025.
Today, this year an average teacher in North Carolina is expected to make about $50,186. The value of those same benefits will also increase to $17,587. As such total teacher compensation will increase to to $67,773.
That’s a 25 percent increase in total compensation in the last dozen years. Or put another way, an increase of 2.1 percent annually.
Since 2005-06 the Consumer Price Index has increased a total of 22.9 percent, teachers have received pay raises totally 36.2 percent while teacher compensation has increased about 25 percent.
Want to learn more about Teacher Compensation read: Getting Past the Rhetoric: Teacher Compensation
The private sector who has to pay for this sure hasn’t gone up this much.Most places it hasn’t gone up at all.
A NC teacher retiring today after 30 years of service (in their early 50s) has several hundred thousand dollars in future benefits owed to them by the state, based on a life expectancy of 25+ years. How many people in the private sector have several hundred thousand dollars in their 401k at age 53 (or even at age 65)? Compared to the private sector, An argument can be made that teacher “pay” is low, but teacher “compensation” is not.
The average N.C. Resident in N.C. Makes 41,250.Pensions are almost unheard of in the private sector.