8 things you should know about Gov. Cooper's final budget proposal
On Wednesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for sizable teacher pay raises and took aim at Republicans for changes made to education spending.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper released a 223-page spending plan on Wednesday. It’s the final budget proposal of his governorship, as he will be termed out at the end of the year.
Republican state lawmakers have a supermajority, thus allowing them to enact whatever they wish over the objections of Cooper and Democratic lawmakers.
Several of Cooper’s proposals are likely to fall on deaf ears, particularly his push for a reversal of the GOP’s latest expansion of the state’s voucher program, also known as opportunity scholarships.
In a news conference, Cooper reiterated his calls for a moratorium on private school vouchers that take taxpayer money away from the public schools.
“Legislators have already robbed more than half a billion dollars in taxpayer money from our public schools for this private school voucher scheme,” Cooper told reporters. “And they're scheduled to rob billions more.”
While he hadn’t had time to review Cooper’s budget by early afternoon Wednesday, Senate leader Phil Berger characterized the governor’s spending plan as “spend more, tax more."
Cooper is unlikely to reverse GOP policies from last year. Even so, his budget does carry importance. That’s because it’s likely to spark conversations within the General Assembly and preview the issues Democratic legislative candidates may highlight in the leadup to the November election.
These are 8 things you should know from the governor’s budget proposal:
👩🏫 Teacher Raises: Cooper’s budget proposal calls for average teacher pay raises of 8.5% in 2024-2025, a $1,500 retention bonus for educators making $75,000 or less and a $1,000 bonus for those earning over $75,000. With the retention bonus included, new teachers would earn $47,500, which would be the highest in the Southeast.
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