NC average teacher pay surpasses $50,000

North Carolina's average teacher pay has surpassed the $50,000 mark for the first time, hitting $51,214 this school year – a $1,244 increase from the previous year, according to estimates released by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

Last year, North Carolina ranked 35th in the nation for average teacher pay and fifth in the Southeast, according to the National Education Association. The group is expected to release this year's rankings in a few months.

The State Board of Education has set a goal to become No. 1 in the Southeast.

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How much to increase teacher pay, if at all, is a perennial budget issue North Carolina governors and lawmakers face. In the past 15 years, North Carolina teachers have seen average salary increases anywhere from zero to more than 8 percent. At times, they have had pay freezes, no step increases and bonuses of varying amounts.

When adjusted for inflation, North Carolina's average teacher salary dropped more than 13 percent from 1999 to 2015, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The U.S. average teacher salary dropped 1.8 percent in that same timeframe.

During the 2001-02 school year, North Carolina ranked 19th in the nation, its pay within $2,000 of the then-national average of $44,655, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

In 2013-14, North Carolina hit its lowest rank in more than a decade – 47th in the nation, with teachers paid nearly $12,000 below the national average of $56,610.

Teacher salaries in North Carolina are paid both by the state government and, in many counties, by a local supplement.

While average teacher pay rankings are one way to compare North Carolina to the rest of the country, education leaders say those numbers don't tell the whole story because average teacher pay does not take into account the experience level of teachers in different states.​