Tennessee Teachers Still Trail Alabama
Even with pay bump, Crimson Tide rolls over Tennessee in teacher pay
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Sure, the UT football team claimed a big win over Alabama in football this year. However, teachers in Alabama still earn more than teachers here in Tennessee.
And yes, that’s even AFTER Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed teacher pay raise announced in this week’s State of the State address.
Here’s more from NewsBreak:
“Tennessee teachers are the best in the Southeast, and we have the outcomes and data to back that up, but we are not paid as the best and are behind our peers in neighboring states,” said TEA President Tanya Coats. “Teachers, like other Tennesseans, have been affected by inflation and rising costs in the family budget. State revenues are strong, and we’ve seen record budget surpluses for many years. More can be done to improve the economics of being a professional teacher in our state, and TEA will continue to advocate for professional salaries for our dedicate educators.”
Coats noted that the proposed teacher pay increase will bring Tennessee’s minimum teacher salary to $42,000 a year. She then pointed out that Alabama’s minimum teacher pay is $43,358.
Yes, that’s right – even with a 4% raise this year, Tennessee teachers will still lag behind neighboring Alabama in teacher pay.
This despite the state facing a significant teacher shortage AND having a surplus in excess of $2 billion.
School Lunch Bully?
The Director of Schools in a Tennessee school district is recommending that the system contract with a third-party debt collector in order to collect school lunch debt.
Can we just say this is gross and move on?
Well, no.
The idea that this is even being recommended is certainly troubling.
That a debt collector is paying nothing and is incentivized to collect with any means necessary is also of concern. IC System only gets paid if they collect - and when they do, they keep over 20% of the amount collected.
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