KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Teachers and administrators in Knox County Schools may soon start seeing bigger paychecks after the board of education voted Thursday to approve pay increases following a study by a third party.
That third party, Evergreen Solutions, found that the district was paying up to 9% below the salary ranges in surrounding districts. The recommendations would raise pay rates to fair market value, according to a KCS board of education member. A new state law requires that minimum salaries for teachers be at least $50,000 per year by 2027.
The new salary schedule approved on Thursday would start teachers with bachelor's degrees at around $47,000 per year. Teachers with master's degrees would see a yearly income of around $50,700, and teachers of all qualifications would be able to see yearly pay raises.
After five years on the job, teachers with a bachelor's degree would be paid around $53,900 per year, and teachers with master's degrees would be paid around $57,600 per year. The salary schedule includes set pay raises for the next 20 years, capping off at $74,524 per year for teachers who only have a bachelor's degree. Teachers with only master's degrees would get $78,375 per year.
A fiscal note for the plan said the pay raises would cost Knox County Schools around $39 million.
Jennifer Hemmelgarn, an assistant superintendent, also said the pay raises are not meant to be a way to compare the value of different positions in Knox County Schools, emphasizing that every position was important.
"Every position in Knox County Schools is equally important to completing our mission and some of those we are currently paying closer to market value than others," she said.
However, one person who attended Thursday's meeting, said he disagreed with the decision because it did not increase pay fast enough every year. He said he believed raises every year would be lower compared to workers in other positions across the school district.
"If you want to tell the teachers how much we value you, this is not the way to do it. Because when they figure out that they're actually getting lower raises than people who are not teachers, they're going to say, 'Well wait a minute, you guys don't care about us,'" he said during the public forum.
The Living Wage Calculator by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said a living wage in Knox County is around $20.85 per hour — or around $41,700 per year — for a single adult without children. That wage increases to $34.07 per hour, or around $70,800 per year, for an adult with a single child.
Jennifer Owen, a board member, also said she would recuse herself from the vote because she plans to return to the classroom after serving on the board, and did not feel it was appropriate to vote on what would be her own salary. Otherwise, the motion to raise teacher pay passed unanimously.