Guilford County educators push for increased wages, higher pay for cafeteria workers

Featured photo: Dozens of teachers and staff wearing red shirts gathered in front of the Guilford County School Board building on the evening of April 17, just before the school board meeting began. (photo by Margaret Ritsch)

Dozens of teachers and staff wearing red shirts gathered in front of the Guilford County School Board building on the evening of April 17, just before the school board meeting began. 

“When Guilford’s schools are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” they chanted. The Guilford County Association of Educators members were celebrating the culmination of a petition drive resulting in 2,300 signatures from district employees. The petition, presented an hour later at the board meeting, asked the board to include in its budget request several GCAE priorities.

One is to reinstate meaningful step increases for cafeteria workers. According to GCAE President Joanna Pendleton, the group’s campaign in 2021 succeeded in winning a wage increase to a flat $15/hour for all cafeteria workers, regardless of seniority. Still, even with the changes, hundreds of cafeteria workers went on strike at the end of last year for better wages. 

Moving forward, the group wants the workers to be able to earn step increases with each year of service. GCAE is also urging step increases for certified teachers with 15 or more years of service, funded by the local supplement Guilford County provides to boost teacher salaries. 

In North Carolina, teachers are paid a base salary that increases based on years of experience until they hit year 15, when it freezes at $59,430 (based on the 2023-24 salary schedule). The salary does not increase again until the teacher’s 25^th year, when it increases by just $2,280. 

“We heal hearts and let children know they have a place in this world,” said Shavonne Speight, a curriculum facilitator at Triangle Lake Montessori and a 28-year veteran of the district, at the rally. She and several other speakers stressed they don’t work for a paycheck; they work to make a difference in children’s lives and because they believe in the power of education to transform those lives.  

Every certified teacher in Guilford County receives the same local supplement amount, regardless of years of experience. GCAE wants to change that so that 15+ veteran teachers can receive the step increases that less experienced teachers enjoy.

“Even with the local supplement our salaries are relatively low,” Pendleton said in a telephone interview. 

Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley announced at the board meeting that the 2024-25 budget recommendation includes $10 million to increase the local teacher salary supplement.

Five years ago, the Guilford County Commission and the Guilford County School Board committed to increasing the local supplement to make teacher salaries the highest in the region, Pendleton explained. After a period of rising salaries, “we’re now back at the bottom compared to large districts in the area,” she said. This is due to some disadvantages Guilford County schools face relative to surrounding school districts.

Guilford is one of four counties excluded from the state’s $100 million teacher supplement funds, reported Angie Henry, the district’s interim chief financial officer, at the board meeting. She was referring to the Teacher Supplement Assistant Allotment that the N.C. General Assembly in 2021 created to benefit smaller counties.  According to the nonpartisan news platform EdNC, the county does not qualify due to its tax-base threshold.  In 2021-22, districts qualified for the allotment if they had less than or equal to $43 billion in taxable property. (The other ineligible districts are Wake County Public Schools, Durham Public Schools and Charlotte-Mecklenburg.)

Pendleton said GCAE has received a positive response so far from the school board, adding that the real challenge will be persuading the Guilford County Commission to fund their requests.“It’ll be real shuffling with real dollars,” she said.  “We know the NC General Assembly is to blame for underfunding and dismantling public education,” she said. “So we’re asking our local elected leaders to stand in the gap.”

“We’re fighting for the demands of local working people,” she continued.

The school board will present its budget to the county commissioners May 16. GCAE plans to rally outside the commissioners meeting June 6 and invites members of the community to come out. When asked to comment on GCAE’s petition, Skip Alston, chair of the commissioners, said GCAE’s requests are to the school board, not the commission.  

“I’m not going to get into the middle of that,” he said.