I haven’t read the latest National Education Association (NEA) “Rankings and Estimates” study, but the Herald Sun reports,

North Carolina has jumped several spots to an estimate of 29th in the nation in average teacher pay, according to a new report released Tuesday by the National Education Association.

The new NEA salary report estimates that North Carolina’s average teacher pay is $53,975, up from $51,232 last school year. The NEA says that North Carolina jumped five spots from its final 2017-18 ranking of 34th in the nation in teacher pay.

This figure does not include thousands of dollars in health care and retirement benefits that each teacher receives.

Our surge to 29th is good progress, right?  Wrong says the NEA state affiliate, the North Carolina Association of Educators!

The N.C. Association of Educators, which is the state affiliate for NEA, acknowledged the increases Tuesday. But the group also focused on how the state is lagging behind the nation and the Southeast in average teacher pay.

One more thing.  If you object to the use of unadjusted averages to compare teacher salaries across states, then contact the NEA and demand that they change their methodology.