Teacher supplements lagging

As Macon County Schools wrestles with a $2.6 million shortfall, Human Resources Director Bryan Singleton said low teacher supplements are hindering the system's recruitment and retention efforts. All teachers receive the base rate set by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, but districts across the state use local funds to supplement teacher salaries in order to offer a more competitive wage and attract teachers to the position. Macon County offers a 2% supplement for teachers, leaving it in last place in the state. Many of Macon County's neighbors qualify for the state's low-wealth supplement, which funds teacher supplements in qualifying counties based on a formula comparing the county tax base, tax rate and average income. Graham, Clay, Cherokee and Swain County all receive the supplement. Macon County received it until the 2024-25 academic year. Singleton said he does not recall what caused the county to miss out on the supplement; however, the county adopted new taxable property values in 2023 following the 2022 reappraisal, resulting in a large spike in the county's effective tax base. In 2025-26, full-time teachers received $1,805 each through the county's 2% supplement. Singleton said the low supplement makes it more difficult to recruit and retain teachers. As an example, he shared that a "great candidate" the system was trying to recruit as an English teacher for the high school elected to turn down the position to take a similar offer in Waynesville, where she could receive $9,000 more per year through Haywood County Schools, where the cost of living is comparable. The county budgeted $702,943 for salary supplements for 2026-27 in June, which Singleton says would need to increase to almost $760,000 to account for state salary increases passed in July. A 1% salary supplement increase would cost the county a total of $1,138,768, while a 2% increase to a full 4% supplement would cost $1,518,357. These increases would not bring Macon County in line with some neighboring counties. Singleton noted Transylvania County's supplement is 9%, as is Jackson County's. Haywood County's supplement comes in at between 4.5% and 7% depending on the position. While Swain County qualifies for the low-wealth state supplement, the county also included in the 2026-27 year a 10% supplement and signing bonus for Exceptional Children's teachers to attract them to the system. Singleton said he knows of a Macon County resident who travels to Swain County to make more money. He said taking a job in Macon County for significantly less money would be a difficult choice, especially for a new teacher without ties to the area. According to data from the N.C. Public School Forum, Macon County is not funding education as well as it could. Comparing the tax base to the average daily membership of the school system, the forum ranks N.C. counties by the funds collected for their local school districts. Macon County ranked 14th for its local revenue and eighth in the state for its property value. After accounting for the funds spent on students, Macon County ranked 97th for its relative funding effort, just ahead of Dare, Avery and Swain counties and just behind Jackson County. Singleton said he would like the county to raise its contributions to teacher supplements, to invest in the community by hiring the best staff to offer the best services. In advocating for the increase, he recalled running a Georgia nonprofit. "One of the first things I committed to was, nobody on our staff should qualify for the services that we offer to the community, because we offered services for low income, and I made sure to change that," he said. "Nobody that's a public servant, no matter what department, should have to worry where their next meal comes from. Because they're all serving, they're all doing, in my opinion, the Lord's work. And they shouldn't have to worry." "Nobody should have to take a vow of poverty to serve their community," Singleton said.

Teacher supplements lagging

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