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CHARLOTTE – Employees of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system are getting a raise.

The school board approved the $1.2 billion budget Tuesday night, a spending plan that comes in about $33 million more than last year's.

They approved a 3 percent raise for all CMS employees, including board members, and money for additional ninth grade teachers and technical facilitators. For the last few years, the district did not talk raises, instead focused on budget cuts and layoffs.

"We've spent the past five years throwing things overboard trying to save the system as a whole and finally, finally tonight, we can start the slow process of rebuilding our system," said school board member Eric Davis, who along with Rhonda Lennon and Tim Morgan declined to accept the raise.

It's been four years since teachers saw their last raise and new superintendent Dr. Heath Morrison says the bump in pay serve as an opportunity to let employees know how much the district values them.

Teachers will see the pay increase starting next month.