Now that the governor has officially signed off on the FY 2020 budget, hundreds of teachers in Habersham will see their paychecks increase.
The budget includes a $3,000 raise for teachers and other certified public school employees. The Habersham County School System employs 495 certified teachers that will benefit. County school superintendent Matthew Cooper says after years of cuts, it’s a welcome relief.
“The efforts of our new governor to increase teacher pay indicates that he understands the huge impact public education has on the workforce and economy of our state. It also indicates that both the governor and our state legislators are aware of the fact that fewer young people are choosing education as a career,” Cooper says.
“I think the pay raise will help, but pay doesn’t fix everything.” – Habersham Association of Educators President Robin Skelton
“Bold investments”
Currently, the state base salary for teachers in Georgia is $34,092. After July 1 it will jump to $37,092 — an 8% increase.
Habersham County pays above the state base. With the state raise, the starting salary for a new teacher with a bachelor’s degree in Habersham County will increase to $38,115. Lawmakers and school administrators are banking on higher salaries to help improve outcomes and attract more qualified candidates to the teaching profession. “Increasing teacher pay is one significant step that can be taken to make teaching a more desirable career choice for young Georgians,” Cooper says.
As Gov. Kemp’s floor leader, Rep. Terry Rogers (R-Clarkesville) helped marshal the votes for the $27.5 billion spending bill. The budget adds $611 million in state spending over last year’s budget. Nearly 90% of that will go to teacher raises.
“One of our concerns was that almost 44% of all teachers leave within their first couple of years,” says Rogers. “We need to make sure we keep good teachers so that we can maintain a strong work force and maintain our position as the number one state in the nation to do business.” Gov. Kemp expects teacher pay raises will help. “I am confident these bold investments will enhance educational outcomes and yield huge dividends for our students and our state in the future,” Gov. Kemp said during Friday’s budget signing ceremony in Camilla.
Higher paychecks. Better outcomes?
While they’re excited about their raise, some teachers remain skeptical of just how big an impact it will have on teacher retention and outcomes.
“The large majority of educators teach because of the students.” – HCHS PAGE representative Ryan Dukes
Ryan Dukes is Habersham Central High School’s representative for the local chapter of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE). He says while the raise “certainly cannot hurt” with teacher recruitment and retention, he’s not sure it will have a “significant impact on the overall education system.”
“The last 20 years have seen a significant rise in teacher salaries even though there has been a drought as of the past several years,” Dukes explains. “Financial restraints are often a marginal reason for the lack of teachers. The large majority of educators teach because of the students.”
Robin Skelton shares a similar view. She’s president of the Habersham County Association of Educators. “I think the pay raise will help, but pay doesn’t fix everything. There’s a lot of testing, a lot of things that go into school that some people, once they’re in it for four or five years, find out it’s too much and they burn out.”
Mandates and disappointments
Skelton’s taught for 25 years. In that time she’s seen a lot of changes in education. Perhaps the biggest change is the number of state and federal mandates with which educators must now comply.
“There’s just so much more legislation on what has to be done in the classroom now. I think it limits our ability to fully teach the things we need to teach,” she says. “There’s this test that has to be done or that test that has to be prepared for; we spend so much time doing all those things we’re not really able to dig into the teaching. If we could just get into the teaching part the assessment at the end would show what it needs to show.”
Despite its challenges, Cooper says he considers teaching to be the “greatest profession on Earth.” He has two daughters in college who are studying to become teachers. Now, with the extra added incentive of higher pay, he hopes others will follow suit. “Because teaching is such an important profession, we must take care of those who have already heeded the calling, as well as those who will join the profession in the coming years,” he says.
Dukes and Skelton express their appreciation for the raise, but also disappointment that non-certified personnel won’t get the same pay hike.
“There are two types of people who work in the school system: those who teach and those who support the teachers,” says Dukes. “Neither could do their job adequately without the assistance from the other. Non-certified staff are extremely valuable to the education system and should be rewarded with pay raises just like certified staff.”
Non-certified staff will get a 2% raise under the newly-approved budget which goes into effect July 1.
