Hamilton County School Board discusses teacher pay during budget talks

HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Hamilton County School Board got a budget presentation from Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson Thursday afternoon.

In it there was a proposed $5.5 million appropriated for a salary increase for employees plus a potentially one-time bonus.

“All we hear about is how under paid they are and it is time we, like I said, fix up some of these schools these kids have to go to,” District 1 School Board Member Rhonda Thurman said.

“We pay what Hamilton County can afford to pay their teachers, and if people here want to go to Rutherford County let them go, because there’s somebody at some of these other districts that would love to come here and teach,” Thurman said.

Dr. Johnson’s presentation showed how first year teacher salary stacked up to other places in the state.

In Hamilton county, salary for first year teacher is $38,628.

In Rutherford County it’s $39,353, and in Bradley County it’s $40,385.

“We might not care or some people on this board may not care about what the other counties are doing, but we do have teachers that leave us every May, going to those surrounding counties, including Polk.  They get up out of here every year.  So, we have to think about that, about how to retain them, or how to even get them here because somebody else is paying more,” District 5 School Board Member Karista Jones said.

While teacher pay is a discussion in Hamilton County, it’s also being discussed at school districts in other states.

Teachers from at least three states are taking action to demand higher pay, including Oklahoma.

According to the Nation Education Association, in the 2016-17 school year, the average starting teacher salary in Oklahoma was $31,919.

In Tennessee, the average starting teacher salary was $36,402, and the national average was $38,617.