NHC Education Scores Dwarfed by Pender and Brunswick

This is while we pay our teachers more in NHC than in Pender and Brunswick. 

I heard Derrick Hickey, of the NHC School Board, speak one time and he said that although the base salary for teachers in NC is set by the state, individual counties offer additional money to entice teachers to teach there.  If I remember correctly, we payed teachers something like 7% beyond base.  Brunswick and Pender paid less.  I don't know how the crime levels compare across counties, but NHC does have a higher median income, so I'm very interested in why this is happening.

StarNews:

Fewer schools in New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties met growth standards set by the state, according to a 2010-11 statewide report on education released Thursday by the N.C. Department of Instruction.

This year, 73.6 percent of schools in the three counties met expected academic growth, compared to 93.4 percent last year.

The education department also released a separate report on statewide graduation rates, showing both Pender and Brunswick counties graduated a greater percentage than the statewide average. New Hanover's was below the state average.

[...]Both Pender and Brunswick counties had higher graduation rates than the state average, at 81.9 and 79.2 percent, respectively.

[...]In New Hanover County, graduation rates are at 73.9 percent.