Salary Increases Comparison

Posted on August 18, 2015 by | 2 Comments

Just months before leaving as outgoing Superintendent, Michael Thurmond said, “Our highest budget priority is to increase salaries for our highly qualified veteran teachers.” The administration recommended the following three-tier salary increase to the board:
4 – 3 – 2 Plan : Teachers and Employees

% Increase
4% Cost-Of-Living-adjustment (COLA) for all veteran teachers with 6 or more years of experience
3% COLA increase to teachers with 0-5 years of experience
2% COLA increase for all other employees

How did that recommended increase stack up to other metro Atlanta school districts?

School District Cost of Living Step Increases Comments
DeKalb County School District Teachers: 3%-4%
6-30 yrs 4%
5 yrs/less 3%		 No
Fulton County School District Teachers: 4%-8%
-step 0-5 (4%)
-step 6-20 (8%)
-step 21 (4%)		 Yes** Sign-on bonuses ($1,000-$2,500)
Cobb County School District Teachers 4% Yes** Additional 1% salary added back, due to a cut that took place in 2010
Atlanta Public School District None No Salary Study Proposal (no increases for any employee)
Gwinnett County School District Teachers 2.5% plus schedule adjustment Yes** Additional 6.6 million dollars expended to adjust teacher salary schedule, to be more competitive.Increase starting salary for new teachers to be more competitive.

**Step is worth an additional 3% in salary

This entry was posted in Budget, Teachers. Bookmark the permalink.

2 responses to “Salary Increases Comparison”

  1. David S | August 18, 2015 at 5:29 PM |

    Thank you, Stan, for another enlightening post. It would be interesting to see how the counties’ respective teacher vacancy rates compare.
    As for Michael Thurmond’s “highest budget priority,” it’s worth noting that the finder’s fee we’re paying Intalage/Global increased from $11,500 last year to $12,500 this year – an 8.6% increase.

  2. Stan Jester | August 19, 2015 at 9:22 AM |

    I’d also like to point out Michael Thurmond also told the AJC back in Feb 2013 “the search for a permanent superintendent would begin immediately and he would leave as soon as one is found.”