Author Archives: FactChecker

Salary Increases Comparison

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

Epic HR Fail – Teacher Vacancy Report

Welcome back to school!  Using the various online school district application/vacancy systems, the FactChecker staff did a back of the envelope calculation of teacher vacancies across the Atlanta metro area.  The DeKalb Schools Human Resources Department has no doubt left the district behind the eight ball in having qualified staff on day one.

DeKalb’s School House Vacancy Report by region as reported by the administration on August 7, 2015.

School House Vacancy Report (click here to enlarge)
School House Vacancy Report