I would argue that other factors are far more important. When administrators allow thugs to rule schools, threaten teachers and make learning impossible for others, you can't pay good people enough to take the job. They might as well get a job as prison guards.
I know that this is a problem at your very own Cary High School.
Never had a kid go to Cary High. I live on the western side of Wake County.
By reputation Cary High and other schools in or near Cary are well-run and do not have problems with violence. Mainly due to the demographics being over 75% upper-middle class families where the parents are employed in RTP.
I will agree that schools need to get back to removing students who are violent and not putting up with misbehavior. We now have an environment where many students do not respect or fear teachers.
There are a good number of dedicated excellent teachers despite the pay issues and student issues. The problem in North Carolina is that many of the young mobile ones simply have to move to a neighboring state to get a $10K pay raise.