Report: NC teacher pay and per-pupil funding are in a dismal place

In a dismal new report, a libertarian think tank finds that NC teacher pay and per-student public school funding ranks near the bottom of the nation.

by Ahmed Jallow, NC Newsline
December 16, 2025

North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally for teacher pay growth and per-student public school funding, according to a new report by the libertarian think tank Reason Foundation.

The findings about North Carolina education are similar to the results of studies by other organizations, including the National Education Association. They are notable, however, because they come from a right-leaning group.

The report found the state ranked 48th in both teacher salary growth and per-pupil funding from 2002 to 2023. While overall education spending increased during that period, inflation and rising benefit costs significantly eroded teachers’ purchasing power, according to the analysis.

Nationwide, per-student funding grew from $14,969 to $20,322 during that period. New York topped all states at $36,976 followed by New Jersey at $30,267. In all, eight states exceeded $25,000 per student in 2023.

Compare that to North Carolina where per-pupil spending in 2023 was just $13,661, ranking 47th in the nation. Idaho, which ranked last, was the only state spending less than $12,000 per student.

North Carolina’s per-student funding grew just 8.5% between 2002 and 2023, ranking 48th in the nation. But it rose slightly in recent years largely because of federal pandemic relief dollars. From 2020 to 2023, per-pupil spending increased 8.7%, slightly above the national average. But those gains may not continue now that federal relief funds have expired.

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“With federal pandemic relief funding now expired, combined with rising economic uncertainty, declining public school enrollment, and increased competition from school choice and homeschooling, the era of unrelenting public school funding growth may be coming to an end,” the report says.

Since 2002, student enrollment in North Carolina increased 17.2%, the ninth-highest growth rate in the country. Over the same period, the number of non-teaching staff — including administrators, counselors, and social workers — grew 18.2%, outpacing growth in the teaching workforce.

Nationally, the report found non-teaching staff increased more than three times faster than teacher hiring.

The report comes as the General Assembly has failed to pass a full budget and the North Carolina Supreme Court has yet to resolve the Leandro school funding case, a decades-old legal fight over the state’s obligation to fully fund a “sound, basic education” for all public school students.

NC Newsline sought comment on the report from state Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), state House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), and state schools superintendent Mo Green (D-North Carolina). None immediately responded.

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Laura Leslie for questions: [email protected].