Teachers, allies flood into Raleigh with message for state leaders
Several thousand teachers and allies rallied for higher pay, more school funding on Halifax Mall in Raleigh, May 1, 2026. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)
‘Do your jobs!’: Teachers, allies flood into Raleigh with message for state leaders
by Brandon Kingdollar, Clayton Henkel and Laura Leslie, NC Newsline
May 1, 2026
Scroll to the end of this story for a photo gallery of the May Day rally.
Thousands of educators, advocates and allies converged on Raleigh Friday, demanding higher pay for teachers, more state support per student, more childcare funding, and more funding for special education.
The May Day rally crowd, dressed in red, nearly filled Halifax Mall, the open area behind the state legislative building, before setting out on a march around the capitol two blocks away.
The protest, organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators, comes as North Carolina lawmakers continue to wrangle over the state spending plan. They were unable to agree on a budget in 2025, leaving teachers and state employees without raises and schools without extra classroom funding.
Currently, the state ranks 46th in the nation for average teacher pay, lower than any of its neighboring states. It is the only state in the nation where teacher pay is projected to fall in 2026.
Earlier in the week, when asked about the rally, Republican legislative leaders said they agreed with the need to increase teacher pay, but said there’s no agreement yet on how much. They were dismissive of the rally itself, pointing out that the legislature isn’t scheduled to hold any meetings Friday, and criticizing decisions by many school districts to close for the day.
Without a state budget, school districts have been forced to reduce funding for local programs, including special education.
Tennille Sims has spent the last three years working as a special education teacher in Wake County Public Schools. Her position was among those eliminated because of recent budget cuts. She attended the Friday rally to advocate for her students.
“My program is no longer there, nor the essentials classes, which is a big problem because a lot of parents are now saying, ‘Well, what about my kids? What’s gonna happen with my kids?’ I don’t have answers,” Simms told NC Newsline.
Rally attendee Marie Delgado is a 25-year special education and preschool teacher in Guilford County. Her state Senate representative is Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham). Delgado works with students with autism, developmental delays and other health issues. She said the lack of a state budget has left her program without needed funding.
“We serve about 900 special education preschool students, probably more than that, and we do not have enough funding for teachers or teacher assistants. We are working at both ends of the candles,” Delgado said.
“I’m not doing this because of how much money I am being paid. I am doing it because our students deserve to have a good education,” she added. “It would be great to be respected and honored for the work that we are doing, but it’s not about that. It’s about what our students need.”
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, the Republican who defeated Berger in the primary election earlier this year, was also in attendance at the rally. he said the state owes its educators competitive pay and a timely budget. He said his colleagues who are reluctant to pass pay raises need to remember that schools are “an investment in the future of the state.”
“We’re first in flight, we need to be first in education,” Page said. “The biggest thing is, a lot of our teachers feel disrespected. They’re underpaid, underfunded, and they need more support in the schools.”
Justin Parmenter has been a seventh-grade language arts instructor in Charlotte since 2006. Parmenter made the trek to Raleigh on Friday because, he said, policy choices made by Republican legislative leadership have left teachers feeling undervalued.
He points to the loss of master’s pay and longevity pay as one reason dedicated teachers feel their expertise is being discounted.
“Certainly it’s important to have beginning teacher pay be attractive,” Parmenter told NC Newsline. “But at the same time, when you are 20 years into your career and you hit a long stretch with no raises at all, it’s hard to feel valued as a veteran educator.”
“Our veteran educators bring a ton of institutional knowledge. They’re great at mentoring new teachers,” he added. “Unless we make our veteran teachers feel valued and prioritize that, they’re going to leave and find greener pastures.”
Parmenter also wants public tax dollars to stay in public schools, a sentiment voiced by many speakers at Friday’s rally. North Carolina spent $625 million on private school vouchers, also known as Opportunity Scholarships, in the current school year alone.
The program now serves more than 106,000 students. Data has shown the program primarily benefits wealthy private school families.
Stein pitches NC budget with teacher raises, tax cuts, Medicaid funding
Gov. Josh Stein’s recommended budget would phase out the Opportunity Scholarship program. Parmenter doesn’t think legislators will take that step this summer, but says they can at least increase accountability by requiring private schools that accept the vouchers to abide by the same rules required of public schools.
“Have a level playing field where all schools have to report test scores, provide transportation, and allow any student who has special needs adequate support to get the same education that everyone else is getting,” Parmenter said. “Those are all things that public schools do for our children that private schools do not have to do.”
State Republican party spokesman Matt Mercer called the event a “union-led stunt.”
“Republicans are committed to quality education for all students and empowering families with the best education options. The left-wing special interests, like NCAE and the national unions, are not aligned with the vast majority of North Carolina teachers — those who want the best for their students and don’t want to be used as political props,” Mercer said in a statement.
Meantime, rally speakers on Friday skewered Republican lawmakers for policies that favor private school vouchers over public schools’ urgent funding needs and raises for teachers whose pay ranks near the bottom of the nation.
NCAE President-elect Christina Cole, a Wake County special education teacher, said it is unacceptable for lawmakers to criticize educators protesting when they have failed to pass a budget and deliver much-needed pay raises for teachers.
“Greedy politicians are sniveling at our day off — when clearly today is a day on,” Cole said. “I stand with you today with a clear message for them: Enough is enough. Today, all of these bad actors are on notice, and we demand they put kids first.”
Daniel Webb, a custodian for New Hanover County Schools, told the crowd that due to a lack of funding, the district can’t properly maintain school facilities.
“I’m tired of going to my building — opening up in the mornings, the sound of the alarm — and seeing more band-aids than bricks,” Webb said. “I’m tired of having to do the work of three custodians and getting paid for one.”
Jenny Easter, president of the Forsyth County Association of Educators — the state’s newest county in which the majority of staff are members of NCAE — told the crowd that their success means “it does not matter if your county is blue, if it is purple like we are, or if it is red” when it comes to fighting for public education.
“We all came together to fight for what our schools deserve, our students deserve, and what our people who work in them deserve,” Easter said.
Ceil O’Loughlin, a retired Wake County educator who taught for three decades, told NC Newsline she came to Halifax Mall to demand higher wages for teachers. She, too, criticized programs funneling money away from public schools through private school vouchers.
“It’s our Republican legislature that’s been trying to save money by not educating children,” O’Loughlin said. “When the Democrats were in charge and we had a Democratic legislature, we had support. And then once the Republicans moved in, they started shifting where the money was gonna go.”
Karla Diener, an Apex resident who attended North Carolina public schools and was also a public school parent, urged the legislature to “stop pulling public tax dollars off for private education.”
She said she was angered by the North Carolina Supreme Court’s ruling reversing Leandro. “It’s against the constitution. I think it’s a political decision,” Diener said.
Her friend, Beth Bordeaux, said she knows families who have left North Carolina because they were unable to get adequate support for their children. She called on lawmakers to heed educators’ concerns.
“School systems across the state were closing because so many teachers were trying to be here, so that’s a message,” Bordeaux said. “They need to listen. We are the voters.”
Jeff Junio, who has taught middle school math for more than two decades and now teaches physical education, said he hopes lawmakers pass meaningful raises for veteran teachers.
The turnout gave Junio “chills,” he said. “Hopefully they get the picture of how many voters are actually standing right in front of them.”
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
Click below for full size images from the “Kids over Corporations” rally photo gallery
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Outside the North Carolina State Capitol, a banner reminds lawmakers and the governor of their obligation to invest in the state’s public schools. (Photo: Clayton Henkel/NC Newsline)
