Increase base teacher pay by 4 percent, increase starting teacher pay to $36,000 by 2016, and reward “excellent” teachers, according to a report released today by CarolinaCAN, a member of a national school choice advocacy group known as 50CAN.

The Gates, Walton and hedge-fund* supported CarolinaCAN released a slick strategy document just a short time before the education community expects Gov. Pat McCrory to put forth his own proposal for increasing teacher compensation.

CarolinaCAN’s Executive Director, Julie Kowal, told NC Policy Watch that her group did not develop the plan in concert with lawmakers–but she has met with them. “I’ve been meeting with legislators and the Governor’s education team over the past several months to preview the pillars of what we’d like to see,” she said in an email.

Anecdotal reports point to North Carolina’s teachers leaving the state in droves after more than five years of a pay freeze and a legislative agenda enacted last year that many say hurt teachers and disincentivize the teaching profession.

A 4 percent pay increase would move North Carolina from 46th in the nation to 38th, just above South Carolina, based on 2012 rankings. That also presumes that other states don’t put into effect their own salary increases for educators.

The report also calls for reforming the salary schedule’s structure so that heftier pay increases come during a teacher’s first five years of service. The report cites research that points to teachers having a greater impact on student learning early on in their careers.

CarolinaCAN calls for reinstating the salary supplement for advanced degrees — but only for those who hold discipline-specific master’s degrees or PhDs. General education degrees don’t positively impact student learning enough to warrant financial compensation.

CarolinaCAN was launched last summer. Among 50CAN’s 2013 goals, the pro-privatization group pledged to run campaigns seeking education policy changes across seven states: Rhode Island, Minnesota, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & North Carolina.

*While hedge-fund managers have been linked to parent organization 50CAN as well as other state-level CANs, CarolinaCAN rep Julie Kowal asserts that no hedge fund managers directly support the NC spin off, nor are they school privatization advocates.

Yesterday, I reported on a new teacher compensation idea that is making its way around Raleigh. It’s called the NC 60/30/10 Plan, which, among other ideas, would pay the bulk of NC teachers $32,000 and limit all teachers to a 20-year career.

I attempted to get in touch with the plan’s author, Dr. Lodge McCammon, several hours before posting my story–but I did not hear back from him. McCammon reached out to me after the story went online to explain the details behind his plan.

McCammon explained that his plan is nothing more than a brainstorming project between himself and a number of teachers and researchers. He said he only put his name on the plan to protect the identity of those who contributed their ideas, given that some of the solutions are controversial–and he declined to name those individuals. He also said he just wants to encourage the idea of flipped classrooms.

McCammon asserted that he did not intend for the document to be shared publicly, but did cite North Carolina’s Principal of the Year, Dale Cole, as one person among several to whom he sent the plan for feedback and suggestions. (Cole confirmed his account.)

McCammon, who says he’s not a policymaker but a musician, was employed at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation North Carolina State University until last September. The Friday Institute’s mission is to “conduct research, develop educational resources, provide professional development programs for educators, advocate to improve teaching and learning, and help inform policy-making.”

Reached for comment, Glenn Kleiman, executive director of The Friday Institute said, “Lodge is doing this without any connection to or involvement of the Friday Institute.  The Friday Institute does not endorse it or have any official response to it at all.”

McCammon told NC Policy Watch that the plan has since evolved into a draft that no longer contains a 20-year limit on teaching careers. When I receive the latest copy of the draft plan, which McCammon has promised to send along, I’ll post it here.