1. Governor Lee noted in his 2020 State of the State Address, “My budget sets aside $117 million additional dollars for teachers, an amount equal to a 4% increase to the state’s contribution to the teacher’s salaries.”
Fact:
Teachers in 72.5% of Tennessee’s school districts received a reduction in their retirement income.*
2. Governor Lee stated in his 2023 State of the State Address, “... We are proposing legislation, that, if it passes, will increase the minimum teacher pay, by the time I leave office, to $50,000.”, “...includes $125 million for teacher pay raises.”
Facts:
The $125 million dollar teacher pay raises does not mean all teachers will receive a pay raise.
After 15 years of service there are no provisions in the Minimum Salary Schedule for teachers with 20 years, 25 years, or 30 years of experience to receive additional compensation. Experienced teachers arenot recognized or valued.
It is mathematically impossible for the Governor to achieve his goal when the annual funding, at a
minimum, is short $101,383,106.95 per year.
The Governor has 3 budget years to achieve his goal. Raising the state minimum salary to
$50,000 requires a $3,333.33 increase per teacher per budget year. 67,915** teachers x
$3,333.33 raise per teacher equals $226,383,106.95.
The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) must be transparent, communicate how the numbers are calculated, require accountability of how the money is spent at the local level, provide an analysis when teachers do not receive a pay raise, and communicate this information on the TDOE website.
Transparency, accountability, and truth-in-advertising are paramount in building trust with Tennessee’s teachers and a critical component in attracting teachers and retaining experienced teachers.
Michael Gonzales, Ed. D.
Professional Educator of Tennessee
Local Leader
*TDOE Teacher Pay Raise Distribution by County 2020-2021 – obtained through the Open Records Act
50K is not nearly enough. Bernie Sanders is right. He has proposed the Pay Teachers Act which would guarantee US public school teachers annual salaries of at least 60K. Lee's proposal of $125 million is not enough to fund all Tennessee public school teachers a minimum salary of 50K, even 3 years from now. We all know by now that districts such as MNPS can't pay for the number of teachers it needs with state money, and so we hire more with local money. Why can't Lee be honest with us? Not every teacher will get a pay raise with a 50K minimum. We need nothing less than a 20% raise to make it right. As long as we are underpaid, we will continue to leave the profession.
Here is an article writte by a friend of mine:
Tennessee Teacher Pay Raises
Quick Facts
1. Governor Lee noted in his 2020 State of the State Address, “My budget sets aside $117 million additional dollars for teachers, an amount equal to a 4% increase to the state’s contribution to the teacher’s salaries.”
Fact:
Teachers in 72.5% of Tennessee’s school districts received a reduction in their retirement income.*
2. Governor Lee stated in his 2023 State of the State Address, “... We are proposing legislation, that, if it passes, will increase the minimum teacher pay, by the time I leave office, to $50,000.”, “...includes $125 million for teacher pay raises.”
Facts:
The $125 million dollar teacher pay raises does not mean all teachers will receive a pay raise.
After 15 years of service there are no provisions in the Minimum Salary Schedule for teachers with 20 years, 25 years, or 30 years of experience to receive additional compensation. Experienced teachers arenot recognized or valued.
It is mathematically impossible for the Governor to achieve his goal when the annual funding, at a
minimum, is short $101,383,106.95 per year.
The Governor has 3 budget years to achieve his goal. Raising the state minimum salary to
$50,000 requires a $3,333.33 increase per teacher per budget year. 67,915** teachers x
$3,333.33 raise per teacher equals $226,383,106.95.
$125,000,000 - $226,383,106.95 = (-$101,383,106.95)
The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) must be transparent, communicate how the numbers are calculated, require accountability of how the money is spent at the local level, provide an analysis when teachers do not receive a pay raise, and communicate this information on the TDOE website.
Transparency, accountability, and truth-in-advertising are paramount in building trust with Tennessee’s teachers and a critical component in attracting teachers and retaining experienced teachers.
Michael Gonzales, Ed. D.
Professional Educator of Tennessee
Local Leader
*TDOE Teacher Pay Raise Distribution by County 2020-2021 – obtained through the Open Records Act
**TDOE 2021-2022 Report Card
50K is not nearly enough. Bernie Sanders is right. He has proposed the Pay Teachers Act which would guarantee US public school teachers annual salaries of at least 60K. Lee's proposal of $125 million is not enough to fund all Tennessee public school teachers a minimum salary of 50K, even 3 years from now. We all know by now that districts such as MNPS can't pay for the number of teachers it needs with state money, and so we hire more with local money. Why can't Lee be honest with us? Not every teacher will get a pay raise with a 50K minimum. We need nothing less than a 20% raise to make it right. As long as we are underpaid, we will continue to leave the profession.