RALEIGH — A bill to return pay supplements to public school teachers who earn advanced college degrees has been introduced by Sen. Danny Britt Jr., a Republican who represents Robeson and Columbus counties.
Britt is a primary sponsor of S.B. 28 with Sen. Rick Horner, a Republican representing Johnston and Nash counties and co-chairman of the Senate Education Committee. A Republican-controlled General Assembly eliminated the master’s degree pay bump in 2013.
“What we have found is that there is a correlation between improved student performance and teachers who have a master’s degree in the field where they teach,” Britt said Thursday. “Teachers who earn a master’s degree are passionate about what they are doing.”
Passage of the bill likely would boost enrollment in master’s degree programs at universities such as The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
“This will help master’s degree programs grow enrollment, although I have not been lobbied by the universities,” Britt said. “Teachers enroll because they want to see output for their input.”
Rep. Charles Graham, a Lumberton Democrat, said Thursday that he had not heard about the bill, but he immediately endorsed it.
“This is a good step for education,” Graham said. “There are many more steps needed.”
Asked about the bill’s chances for passage, Britt said the Democratic Caucus endorsed it within “10 minutes,” but his Republican colleagues are divided. Stepping away from the usually solid Republican majority does not worry Britt.
“We’re split,” he said of the Republicans. “I have been something of an outlier since I got here, but when you represent Robeson and Columbus counties, it comes with the territory.”
With two children in the public schools and a wife who is a school administrator with a master’s degree, Britt has a stake in education outcomes.
The second-term senator personally guided the writing of the bill, titled “An Act to Reinstate Education-based Salary Supplements to Certain Teachers.”
The bill will maintain the pay increase of about 10 percent for teachers who were getting it before 2014-15 and provide it to those who have gained a master’s or doctorate degrees since. It will also benefit nurses who are required to have advanced degrees, and teachers who spend at least 70 percent of their classroom time in the field where they earned an advanced degree.
In 2017, Sens. Britt and Horner filed a similar bill to restore master’s pay for both teachers and instructional support personnel, but the legislation died in committee. The new bill does not include instructional support staff, so it is less costly.
Britt said the cost will not be burdensome because the state is in a strong financial position.
“When this pay bump was removed, the state was in a much different place economically,” Britt said. “I believe we can afford it.”
Republicans withdrew funding for teachers who earn advanced degrees after 2015, citing a study that maintained student outcomes do not correlate with teachers who have earned master’s or doctoral degrees.
Britt cites other studies.
“You can find a study that says whatever you want,” he said. “Many studies indicate there is a correlation between positive student outcomes and teachers who earned master’s degrees and teach in the field where they earned that degree.”
If approved by the General Assembly and signed into law the act would become effective on July 1.
