CHARLOTTE, NC — More support for a sales tax referendum to give local teachers a bigger pay raise. With just over two weeks until election day, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators is formally endorsing the quarter-cent tax hike. If voters approve, it will bring in an estimated $28 million for CMS salary increases.
“We have two children, and we make do with what we have. But there’s things that we can’t do. Sometimes we, you know, our day care bill is astronomical. Some teachers at my school that are getting Medicaid and food stamps to help their family because their salaries are so low,” said Crown Point Elementary Learning Facilitator Mary Beth Kubinski.
The state legislature approved an average seven percent pay raise as part of the budget passed in August. Newer teachers received larger increases, while some veteran teachers saw less than half of a percent.
