NC Dems eye funding boost for teacher support program amid attrition concerns
Original article by Ahmed Jallow – March 26, 2025 The Pulse
Christina Butler, a first grade teacher in Wilkes County, nearly quit her job just weeks into her first year. But thanks to the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program, Butler is still a teacher today. “If you go into teaching, you know it’s not about the money, it’s about the kids,” Butler said. “But in my first year, just a few weeks in, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue.”
NC NTSP, Butler said, provided her with the encouragement and guidance needed to commit to a long-term teaching career.
Beginning teachers like Butler, defined as those with fewer than three years of experience, made up about 11% of North Carolina’s teaching workforce in 2022-23 school year, but they accounted for nearly 15% of those who left the profession, according data released last year by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
NC NTSP currently serves 1,200 beginning educators and has a 94% retention rate, said Dr. Elizabeth Hodges, the program director, at a press conference Wednesday morning. Hodges said the program is currently impacting approximately 40,000 students.
This success has spurred Democratic legislators to push for a $4 million appropriation to extend its reach across the state. “We are in a crisis,” said Rep. Cynthia Ball, a leading advocate for expanding the program. “We lose half our teachers after their fifth year, and the situation has only gotten worse.”
The NC NTSP is an initiative of the University of North Carolina and partners with 83 school districts providing beginning teachers with provisional development, one-on-one coaching, and a support system designed to also address personal challenges.
Dr. Caroline Beam, an instructional coach, recounted an instance in which a simple offer of emotional support helped a discouraged middle school teacher reconsider resigning. “What I realized, and what we all probably know, is she was just worn out,” said Beam, who meets with 33 beginning teachers weekly. “We just needed to rest, and things were going to look a lot different on the other side of spring break.”
Rep. Rodney Pierce (D-Halifax, Northampton, Warren), a former educator, highlighted the disparities in support available to teachers across the state. “Not all teachers have support systems within their schools or districts,” Pierce said. “That’s why we need to support legislation like this.”
Ball and her colleagues face steep odds in the Republican-controlled legislature, but she said she is determined to fight for the bill.
“I am determined not to take ‘no’ for an answer,” Ball said. “I’m asking some of the people who are those making decisions, and you know what I mean, what is it going to take to get this $4 million that’s like a nickel in your pocket to our budget, and it is the best investment that I can think of.”