Governor Pat McCrory is pleading with educators to try to find solutions. He says the education system needs to run more effectively and efficiently and that our state is still in a recession.
The first teacher advisory committee meeting came a day after more than a hundred teachers stayed home from school and other teachers held "walk in" protests.
North Carolina public school educators are unhappy with recent spending cutbacks and another year without pay raises.
Many teachers took part in a "walk in" and wore red to school while entering together through the front door on the way to morning classes as a sign of unity Monday.
Academic leaders and lawmakers are concerned it will be hard to get and keep teachers working in the state, which is why teacher retention was one of the issues McCrory asked the committee to look into.
The governor told the committee he is looking for long term solutions to the state's education system.
"There's no doubt that we're under served in certain professions, in which we have labor market needs and we can't find the talent to the degree that we need," said McCrory.
The CEO of SAS, a leading analytical software company, attended the meeting and said that is what many people have been thinking.
"Some of the salary data is not very good, so governor, I hope you will find some money in your budget," said Dr. Jim Goodnight.
McCrory wants the committee to work with the funds that are on the table.
"There are tremendous financial straits on all of us right now. We don't know of any new money that's all of a sudden going to fall out of the sky and land in the middle of this room. And go well, the problem's solved," said McCrory.
However, the organization "Action NC" says there is something the governor can do to solve the problems.
"If he wanted more money, he could get it. He could go to the general assembly, but he just refuses to. And now we're in the position to education our children with not enough money," said a policy advisor.
McCrory says he cannot raise taxes to put more money in paychecks. He says that will only further drive up the unemployment rate.
"I've got to look at the big picture while also diving into the very detailed solutions," said McCrory.
North Carolina has the sixth highest unemployment rate in the country.
The teacher advisory committee will hold meetings for one year looking for ways to do more with the money that is available. The governor says he would like to hold one of the meetings at his home.
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