Charlotte school staff are on the verge of a significant wage increase.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are considering a plan to increase the hourly wage of all school staff to $20. This initiative aims to enhance compensation for classified employees, such as bus drivers and custodians. If approved, the increase will be retroactively applied from July 2024, costing around $25.66 million. The CMS board will vote on the proposal on January 28, marking a significant move towards fair wages for essential school staff. The plan is sourced from repurposed funds, avoiding the need for tax increases.
Big news is buzzing around Charlotte as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) leaders are pushing to raise the pay for all staff members to a comfy $20 per hour. The goal is to implement this exciting change before the end of the current school year. This decision is based on a thorough compensation study conducted back in fall 2023, which focused primarily on classified employees, like our dedicated bus drivers, hard-working custodians, essential child nutrition workers, and supportive teaching assistants.
On a recent Tuesday night, CMS board of education members were presented with the findings of this comprehensive study. Superintendent Crystal Hill, fresh into her role, made it clear that fair compensation for employees was her top priority. This initiative aims to lift the pay of the lowest-paid staff members, currently earning less than $20 an hour, which will come to an estimated cost of around $25.66 million. Can you believe it? Right now, about 3,866 CMS employees fall under that less-than-$20-per-hour category!
If approved, the proposed pay increase will be retroactively applied from July 1, 2024. The initial findings from the study were included in the recently approved $2.1 billion budget, which allocated $13.2 million for the first phase of this pay increase. The funds will be cleverly sourced from repurposed state and federal funds, as well as allocations from the school nutrition fund and after-school fund. Interestingly, there’s no need for any additional tax hikes or approvals for this plan!
The study revealed that salaries for similar roles within the CMS have been stagnant over recent years. This stagnation has made it tough to attract and keep talented employees. By introducing a new competitive pay structure, CMS aims to ensure that everyone is receiving a fair wage for the important work they do. Currently, the state minimum wage for public school employees sits at $15 per hour, while the living wage for a single adult in Mecklenburg County is estimated to be around $24.36 per hour.
In the past, proposals aimed at setting a minimum wage of $17.25 with bonuses, but board members rallied for a minimum wage that pushes closer to this living wage target. A consultant working on the compensation study pointed out that Charlotte’s unique economy requires offering higher wages than other areas in the state. What’s even better is that under the new salary schedule, no employee will see a pay reduction—including certified teachers, whose salaries are determined by state regulations.
The CMS board plans to vote on this proactive pay increase on January 28. If everything goes smoothly, the first phase of the pay increase is set to kick off in February. Believe it or not, this will be the first actionable compensation study for CMS since 2007; a previous study in 2018-2019 wasn’t funded or put into place. If this gets a green light, it will set the stage for additional salary increases in the years to come to acknowledge employee tenure and implement annual adjustments from 2025 to 2027.
According to the study, a whopping 390 job titles across nine classified pay grades were reviewed, and certified teachers were intentionally left out of this study. As part of this new vision, the plan will be executed in three phases spread over three years, solely due to funding constraints. However, the excitement is palpable! Board members are coming together to express their support for this pay increase as a long overdue acknowledgment of the contributions that ALL staff members make every day.
So, Charlotte, let’s keep our fingers crossed for an uplifting change in pay structure for our fantastic school staff who work tirelessly for our kids!
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