Community urges bigger teacher pay increases, criticizes proposed cuts during CMS budget hearing

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education held a public hearing on the superintendent's 2025-26 budget recommendation and heard dozens of speakers urging the board to press for larger local and state funding increases and to prioritize teacher pay and staffing.

Speakers including community advocates, classroom teachers and union representatives pressed the board to ask Mecklenburg County for a larger local supplement and to resist cuts that would increase class sizes or eliminate arts programs. "We need you to hold our district accountable for every single dollar that isn't going directly to our students and our buildings," said Devonya Govan Hunt, representing the Black Child Development Institute, Carolinas.

Why it matters: Speakers warned that planned reductions and teacher displacements would worsen staffing shortages and harm student learning. Multiple speakers asked the board to pursue a ‘‘hard’’ budget ask of county commissioners and to support at least a 10% county supplement for teacher pay.

Teachers described staffing and classroom strain. A visual arts teacher said she is covering many classes because of vacancies and warned the system cannot sustain further cuts. Michelle Vaughn, a CMS teacher working in Title I schools, described what a 10% supplement would mean for veteran teachers: "A teacher with a master's degree and 15 years of teaching experience, their increase for the year would be $1,123. That is $112 a month before taxes." She identified that figure as the amount a 10% supplement would add for that experience level.

Several speakers focused on arts education and what they said were targeted displacements in music, band, choir, dance and language departments. "Invest in the arts. Please stop displacing our teachers," said Betsy Fogelman, who described teachers and programs that she said raise student achievement and lack alternative community access.

Some public commenters recommended alternative budget steps: Bill Fountain, a retired educator, urged closer review of administrative staffing and suggested adopting zero-based budgeting. Other speakers called for protecting classified staff pay and resolving temporary-worker pay anomalies.

Board context and next steps: The superintendent's formal recommendation cited a proposed 1.2 percent county increase (as referenced by a public speaker during the hearing). Speakers urged the board to push for larger local support and to continue negotiations with county commissioners. Board members did not take a final budget vote at the hearing; the public comment period concluded and the board will consider budget adoption later in its calendar process.

Ending: The hearing closed after an extended public comment period in which more than two dozen speakers urged higher teacher pay, fewer layoffs, and retention of arts programs. Several groups and speakers offered to partner with the district on advocacy and community outreach to increase public support for school funding.