The Senate proposal is slated to go through three committees Tuesday and recorded floor votes Wednesday and Thursday. GOP budget writers ultimately will have to hammer out a compromise spending plan to vote on and send to Democratic Gov. Cooper’s budget proposal would have spent over $3 billion more than the spending limit set for next year by Republicans. The Senate budget proposal would raise average teacher pay by just 4.5% over the next two years, compared to a 10.2% average raise in the House proposal. Berger said the Senate budget emphasizes starting pay for first-year teachers, saying their state-funded base salary would grow from $37,000 currently to $41,000 for the 2024-25 school year.

Source: The North Africa Journal May 15, 2023 23:51 UTC