FY2020 Metro Atlanta Teacher Salary Comparison

Teachers in DeKalb Schools have some of the highest salaries in the Metro Atlanta Area. DeKalb Schools teachers with a Masters have the highest salaries in the Metro Atlanta Area. DeKalb Schools teachers with a Bachelors or Specialist degree have the 2nd highest salaries in Metro Atlanta compared to other comparable school districts.

The issue of teacher pay has been a focus of my tenure on the Board. I have fought to push more money into the classroom and away from wasteful spending at the central office. Improving teacher pay is the biggest way to accomplish this goal. I am glad I was able to effectively move the needle on this important metric.

DeKalb Schools Teachers

METRO ATLANTA TEACHER SALARY SCHEDULES FY2020

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) FY2020 Teacher Salary Schedule
Clayton County Schools FY2020 Teacher Salary Schedule
Cobb County Schools FY2020 Teacher Salary Schedule
Fulton County Schools FY2020 Teacher Salary Schedule
DeKalb County Schools FY2020 Teacher Salary Schedule
Gwinnett County Schools FY2020 Teacher Salary Schedule

T4 = Bachelors
T5 = Masters
T6 = Specialist
T7 = Doctorate

Stan Jester’s FY2020 Metro Atlanta Teacher Salary Schedule Analysis

T4 = Bachelors

T4 - Bachelors - Teachers - Salary Schedule Comparison - FY2020 Metro Atlanta

T5 = Masters

T5 - Masters - Teachers - Salary Schedule Comparison - FY2020 Metro Atlanta

T6 = Specialist

T6 - Specialist - Teachers - Salary Schedule Comparison - FY2020 Metro Atlanta

T7 = Doctorate

T7 - Doctorate - Teachers - Salary Schedule Comparison - FY2020 Metro Atlanta

33 responses to “FY2020 Metro Atlanta Teacher Salary Comparison

  1. Thank you for all do! Can the paras get more money? We work hard as well.

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  2. Wait – I’m confused. When it comes to you standing up for Chamblee or speaking out against the rampant stupidity in DeKalb schools, you can’t do anything because you’re just one person against the evil empire. People who post here always claim you’d do more if the deck wasn’t stacked against you.

    But now you claim credit for “moving the needle” on teacher salaries? You? Alone?

    Wow – I hope your arm isn’t sore from patting yourself on the back.

    Now maybe move the needle against this joke that’s coming in as super.

  3. The deck is stacked against me and I moved the needle on teacher salaries. Both can be simultaneously true.

  4. Stan I’m all for effective teachers getting more pay, BUT NOT TEACHERS WHO DON’T PERFORM.
    There’s not accountability in the classroom, and therefore they don’t DESERVE A PENNY, let alone a PAY INCREASE. Some PRINCIPALS gets huge salary to do nothing and it’s said, traacking performance is critical and DeKalb lacks therefore.

    Stan we need you in LEADERSHIP at DeKalb – what are you waiting on?
    PLEASE !!!!!!!! Someone needs to bring accountability into STRUCTURE.

  5. Forgot to to ADD, Stan we’re waiting for you to MOVE BIG ON STOPPING the SURP from coming in. It’s Definitely a JOKE- COME ON , WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

  6. Excellent philosophical question Trina. I’ve gone round and round with Downey and her readers on her blog on this subject … How do we fairly and equitably decide which teachers are performing better than others?

    I think we can all agree that some teachers are more effective than others. So, how do we systematically decide fairly and equitably who our high performing teachers are? As you know, to date, we use years of experience and level of education as a proxy to determine effectiveness.

    I’m open to suggestions.

  7. I love the salaries and how hard you and others have worked to improve them. I do wish that the Retirement was better, especially since Dekalb has gone years without paying into Social Security nor matching employee contributions to some sort of IRA program. They have the 2% match going now, but that’s weak and they don’t promote it very well (my opinion).

    Thanks for all that you do to tell what’s happening.

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  8. As a 3rd year teacher coming from Corporate America, I do thank you for your efforts. They have proved beneficial. Your newsletters have also proved helpful and informative for educators in Dekalb.

  9. dekalbteacher

    Stan,

    Thank you for helping with teacher pay. However, any discussion of teacher pay and accountability needs to recognize that almost a third of Dekalb’s teachers are not classroom teachers with the same obligations, work tasks, and accountability that those of us who work with students daily have. Seems that you can’t really talk about evaluating teacher effectiveness until people understand who is being paid as a teacher.

  10. There are all kinds of employees at DeKalb Schools, let’s talk about the main teachers in the classrooms that work directly with students every day. This discussion, btw, is strictly academic.

  11. Robert Lawrence, Ph.D.

    Stan – I challenge you to post one study, from a referred journal, that demonstrates a significant relationship between teacher salaries and teacher effectiveness. You spend too much time , as previous posts have noted, patting yourself on the back for your work on the DeKalb board, with little evidence that your efforts are even focused on the right policies.

    I look forward to reading that study and engaging in further discussion on this important issue.

  12. @Robert Lawrence, PHD. I’m not aware of any schools with a method for fairly and equitably identifying effective teachers. Like I said, this exercise is strictly academic and has no policy implications.

  13. dekalbteacher

    Stan,

    How does that happen?

    Teacher salaries don’t distinguish between those “main teachers” in the classroom and those “teachers” out of the classroom. Those teachers in the classroom need to have some measure of effectiveness, but the other “teachers” don’t? Teachers have the least amount of say in anything from school calendars to grade policies to school needs to class schedules to class size to instructional mandates, and classroom teachers also have the least amount of flexibility in their work time. The classroom teachers also make up the smallest group of employees in the school district, but we appear to be the only ones anyone is interested in evaluating for effectiveness.

    I welcome any measure that starts looking at how all well all of us are working. Dekalb County students need us to do just that.

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  14. @DeKalbTeacher … it’s just an academic exercise.

  15. Robert Lawrene, Ph.D.

    Perhaps I misunderstand your comment that measuring teaching effectiveness is a strictly academic exercise and has no policy implications….but, if not, then you fail to understand the necessity of rigorous educational research driving educational policy. As a so-called “educational leader” in a public school system that has miserably failed a generation of children, you should know better.

    Here’s another one for you – show me research studies that demonstrate that certified teachers produce better child outcomes than non-certified teachers. Perhaps these studies are out there – since you are an educational leader, I look forward to you sharing that information with your readers. I will be the first to give you credit for using data from these studies to guide your decision-making on the DeKalb School Board.

  16. @Robert Lawrene, Ph.D. – “rigorous educational research driving educational policy” … An analysis of our procurement process indicated that DeKalb Schools procurement lacks process and ethics. I can’t even get a respectable procurement policy in place.

    Are certified teachers more effective than their non-certified counterparts? Another excellent academic question. Isn’t that the whole idea behind Teach For America?

  17. Problem Solver

    It’s easier than you think to identify high performing teachers. The issue is that the employees that won’t be considered high performing are more interested in challenging the process than actually performing.

    Stan, as the owner of this blog you can see my email address. Feel free to reach out if you ever want to discuss. Thanks

  18. Robert Lawrence, Ph.D.

    Problem-Solver – perhaps you can be more successful in getting Jester to answer specific questions raised by both of us. His pat answer to me is “it’s an academic question” which I assume is Jester’s way of dismissing the question as not being a practical, real-world question concerning education policy.

    He works hard on patting himself on the back if he thinks he’s actually done something meaningful as a school board member. He’s equally adept at dismissing questions by taxpayers and stakeholders who raise issues he apparently knows nothing about.

  19. @Robert Lawrene, Ph.D. – It’s challenging having a coherent conversation with you. I answer your questions, but all you seem to want to do is insult me. I’m happy to have an amiable and constructive exchange of thoughts and ideas.

  20. As lovely as it is to have philosophical discussions about the virtues of teacher certification and salaries, a more immediate concern is the 2020-2021 budget and how our current situation affects that. I fear 2008 level cuts.

  21. dekalbteacher

    Edugator,

    Will probably we worse than 2008 cuts.
    Look at how many more administrative positions Dekalb has added since then.
    Be certain that teachers will be the hardest hit of certified employees. The classified staff will continue to suffer.

  22. Stan –

    Not to hijack (okay, actually I am), but how about an update on the Kittredge move. Is it still on – are they able to work on the old KMS building with Covid? If not, when will a decision be made?

    Any REAL chance of keeping the latest fiasco – Crew – out of office?

    Some schools have charters that are being updated or are due in the fall. Any chance of having these delayed due to the current situation? How can a school predict numbers given what’s going on now? I doubt even the great financial minds in the central office have a clue, esp without knowing state cuts and federal handouts.

    Notice the falling rankings for DeKalb schools in the latest US News? Comments?

  23. Stan Jester

    Updates … Good questions.

    Kittredge/Nancy CreekApril 15 Board Meeting included an agenda item for ” New Kittredge Magnet School and Dunwoody Elementary School Annex Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment (FF&E) Purchase Approval”. My understanding is that they are full speed ahead.

    Crew – Familiarize your self with Crew’s issues online. Contact the people that wrote these online articles. Reach out to your board members and let them know what you think. My perception is a number of board members are on the fence.

    Charters – Delay in charters applications? That’s hard to say. It depends on the Superintendent and the charter. Historically, DeKalb Schools hasn’t been charter friendly.

    Budget – Writing is on the wall that revenues are dropping. Roughly 45% of the school district’s general fund is state funding. The state is trying to pass a budget and they are talking about cutting funding for education by 15%. I don’t think the county is guestimating local funding yet.

    US News – Falling Ranking – Please include a link. What are your thoughts about it?

  24. Just Wondering

    Is any money being saved now that schools are not open? Electricity and so forth? Am I being obtuse? School buildings aren’t being opened for principals and secretaries, right?

  25. Stan Jester

    @Just Wondering. DeKalb Schools normally spends about $15M annually on electricity. Seems logical that we would save a little there. The school district isn’t fully engaging all of its hour employees including, but not limited to, bus drivers and substitute teachers. There has been some discussion among the administrations around metro Atlanta about paying their hourly employees whether they work or not. My understanding is that half of the Metro Atlanta school districts are paying at least some of their hourly employees whether they work or not … even though it’s a violation of the Gratuities Clause in the state law. The Board of Education also just approved $80K for licenses for virtual online meetings software (Microsoft Teams).

  26. dekalbteacher

    Stan,

    Do you know what the budget discussions are looking like?

    Administrators of all ranks cost more than teachers, and their salaries are not fully funded by the state, correct?

    45% of the district’s funding comes from the state, and the state has said that school districts need to reduce their spending by 14%. As it is, I thought the school district redistributes QBE funding to pay for some of the certified employees that aren’t teachers. If a school gets enough points for a certain number of teachers, the district can use that money to employ fewer classroom teachers but still pay in-school and out-of-school administrators and classified support staff in the school by making up the difference with local funds.

    Most of the district schools are Title 1 schools, so some of that money pays for instructional support positions. Does it also pay administrator salaries in and out of school buildings?

    If this is an accurate description of how funding works, will the district begin by looking at the administrative costs (in jobs and salaries) that grew under Green before any across-the-board cuts?

  27. Stan Jester

    @DeKalbTeacher, On Monday, the Superintendent is presenting the FY2021 Tentative Budget\Revenue Projections.

    There are more teachers than administrators per se. The state is very loose on the spending. There is a bare minimum teacher salary schedule and some services the district has to provide. Otherwise, the school district has the flexibility to spend the money as it sees fit.

    Title 1 is generally federal funding. Guidelines for Title 1 spending is very specific. I don’t think much if any Title 1 funding goes to administration.

  28. Rudy Cruising

    Any update on the abruptly ended Friday board meeting?

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  29. I was wondering how to access the current SY 20-21 pay schedule Z for counselors, OT/PT, SLP etc. The DCSD website does not make it easy to access the current pay scale for resource teachers. Please adviss. GK

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  30. *advise

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  31. Unhappy Teacher

    You don’t want to see it. Big cut for teachers.

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  32. Unhappy Teacher

    Recently posted in HR.

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  33. Perhaps I should’ve been more patient. I received the email with the new pay schedule docs today. I just don’t get why it’s not easier to find the document with a simple google search. Anyways…

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