Latest news with #MelissaEasley
Axios
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Who's running for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education in 2025
Mecklenburg County residents will have the choice to elect one person to represent their district on the non-partisan school board. Why it matters: From immigration fears to federal funding cuts, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools face major challenges. This board is tasked with steering the nation's 16th-largest school district through it all. Zoom out: The board will also oversee what's being done to improve student outcomes. While CMS, which has more than 141,000 students, has made strides since the pandemic, it still lags behind the statewide average in student test scores and high school graduation rates. Primary Election Day is Tuesday, Sept. 9. Early voting starts Thursday, Aug. 21. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 4. District 1 🏫 Melissa Easley is an incumbent with two children in CMS. She previously taught science and social studies in suburban Chicago. Bill Fountain, a former middle and high school teacher, has run before for the school board without success. He believes CMS has prioritized "social and political agendas over core academics." Charlitta Hatch is a graduate of CMS and has two children: a third-grader and a preschooler. She's an adjunct professor and teaches "History of Racism and Psychology of the Black Experience." District 2 Thelma Byers-Bailey did not file for reelection. Juan Hall is a former volunteer coach at West Charlotte High School and is involved with Moms for Liberty, a conservative group championing the parental rights movement. Shamaiye Haynes has run before in 2023 with the support of the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte — but she said it hurt her chances that Mecklenburg County Democrats didn't include her on their blue ballot. District 3 ✏️ Gregory (Dee) Rankin is running unopposed to keep his seat. He has a degree in public administration from UNC Pembroke and has taught in CMS as well as private and charter schools. He has also served as chair of the Black Political Caucus education committee. District 4 🎓 Stephanie Sneed, a trial lawyer, currently serves as the board's chair and formerly chaired the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Robert Edwards Jillian King is a former teacher and stay-at-home parent. District 5 🚌 Lisa Cline, an incumbent, worked in education for 39 years, including as assistant principal at Phillip O. Berry, West Mecklenburg and Ardrey Kell high schools. Cynthia Stone attended, taught and sent her children to CMS. District 6 Summer Nunn is not seeking reelection.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CMS board members challenge NC legislature to ‘do more', say teacher raises not enough
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education members are calling the North Carolina Senate's proposed educator raises insufficient. 'What's happening right now in North Carolina is not just budget mismanagement,' CMS board member Melissa Easley said at a news conference Thursday. 'It's an attack on the very foundation of our public schools.' The Senate introduced its 2025-27 budget proposal Monday night, and it passed Thursday. It includes an across-the-board raise for state employees of 1.25% in fiscal year 2025-26, along with a $3,000 bonus over two years. Teachers would receive an average 2.3% pay increase next school year and an average total increase of 3.3% over the next two years. They'd also get the $3,000 bonus. The proposed 2.3% increase for this fiscal year falls short of the expected state increase CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill laid out in her budget proposal for the district, which assumed an increase of 3% from the state. It's also a far cry from the budget recommendations Democratic Governor Josh Stein made in March, which included teacher pay raises of an average of 10.6% over two years. However, the governor's plan would require halting planned tax cuts, while Republicans in the Senate have emphasized cutting taxes for North Carolinians as a top priority. CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed called out the increase as failing to keep up with inflation, which currently sits at 2.4%, down from 2.8% last month, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sneed and Easley both worry the state increase is not enough to keep NC teachers in the profession. 'Would you stay in a job where the pay increases a total of less than 5% over 3 years, while groceries, gas and rent keep rising?' Easley said Thursday. 'We are still watching qualified, passionate educators leave this profession because they cannot afford to stay.' Pay increases for educators will vary based on years of experience. The proposed raises would increase monthly pay for beginning teachers by $50 and the most experienced teachers, with 25 years or more in NC schools, by $70. Educators' salaries are based on a 10-month salary schedule, not a 12-month one. The new proposal would bring the yearly salary of a first-year teacher to $41,510, for example. 'Under this proposal, it's estimated that average teacher pay will be at $62,407,' Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said at a news conference Monday. 'On average, teachers will receive an additional compensation, with the step increases and the pay raise and the bonus, of 8.9% over the biennium.' Easley argues the one-time $3,000 bonus is not enough to keep teachers. 'A one-time bonus is not a sustainable investment,' she said. 'What we need now is for the political will to stop treating our teachers like a line item and start treating them like the professionals they are.' The proposal will now go to the NC House of Representatives, which will write and pass its own version. The House proposed higher raises for educators than the Senate during the last budget cycle in 2023. Both Sneed and Easley called on the House to increase teacher pay raises in this budget, too. 'We must challenge our state legislators to do more,' Sneed said. 'We issue a challenge that money is allocated where the overwhelming majority of students are educated, which is our traditional public schools.'
