Board certified teachers fare well in NC

North Carolina looks bad on most national comparisons of how it pays teachers.  But when it comes to rewarding those who earn certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards,  the state does better than most.

Certification,  which requires teachers to meet demanding national standards and analyze their own teaching techniques, brings a 12 percent bump to teacher salaries here.  Exactly where that ranks is hard to say because there are so many different approaches.

Twenty states provide some kind of salary incentive,  and most of those offer a flat amount rather than a percentage,  says the board's communication director Aparna Kumar.  For instance,  a recent state report comparing North Carolina to surrounding states showed that South Carolina offers $5,000 a year,  while Virginia offers $5,000 the first year and $2,500 in subsequent years.  Georgia has approved rewarding board certification but has yet to provide the money,  the report from the N.C. General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division says.  Tennessee provides no statewide reward but encourages local districts to do so.

In North Carolina, the amount of the certification bump depends on the teacher's base salary.  For one making the state minimum of $30,800,  12 percent comes to just under $3,700.  For a teacher at the top of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools scale,  it's a bit over $8,300 a year.

"As a rough comparison, North Carolina is among the states with a strong incentive in the approximately $4,000 to $6,000 range,"  Kumar said.

North Carolina was one of the first states to embrace the certification process as a way to develop strong teachers. North Carolina has more board certified teachers than any other state,  and Wake County tops all other districts nationwide.

"North Carolina is well poised to build from its history of strong support to help make Board certification the norm for teachers as it is in other high-regard professions such as medicine,"  said board President Ronald Thorpe.

N.C. leaders are scrutinizing every aspect of teacher compensation in hopes of getting the best bang for the taxpayer buck.  They're phasing out extra pay for master's degrees,  arguing that the 10 percent increase doesn't correspond to stronger results for kids.  So far they seem willing to keep the certification pay intact,  though I never venture a firm prediction on what the future might hold.