WRAL out of North Carolina is reporting that the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, June Atkinson, has asked lawmakers to exempt teachers from paying income taxes.
Atkinson sees this as a strategic move that lawmakers in North Carolina should take on an effort to make teaching more attractive for teachers in the state. Currently, North Carolina ranks 46th across the nation in teacher pay. It will take a new teacher 5 years to make $31, 000 after starting out making $30, 800 per year. Teachers without advanced degrees or certification from the National Board of Professional Teacher Standards must have 15 years experience before they are eligible to make $40, 000 on the state salary schedule.
Atkinson was quoted by WRAL as saying that the state’s lawmaker’s focus on corporate income taxes to keep and lure businesses to the state should be widened to excuse teachers from paying taxes on their salaried incomes:
“Much has been said about the need for North Carolina to become more competitive with our surrounding states when it comes to corporate income taxes.” She continued, “Let’s keep our competent teachers in North Carolina classrooms. Let’s position North Carolina to be a more attractive state for new teachers. Exempt them from paying personal state income taxes, ” she beseeched the lawmakers.
Will her efforts to get North Carolina teachers exempt from paying income taxes on their salaries materialize? Well, I think that she has an uphill battle ahead of her if she tries to get that passed.
Regarding Akinson’s tax plan, the Charlotte Observer reported:
“The House and Senate have developed separate tax proposals. Neither included a tax exemption for teachers, and Atkinson’s proposal probably won’t be considered.”
What do you think? Will something like this ever come to fruition? I wonder if there are other state legislators looking into the possibility of offering something like this to the teachers in their states.
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