School administrators asking Frankfort to re-assess state’s proposed budget: Starting pay for teachers among top concerns locally

By TIMOTHY WYATT and TREVOR SHERMAN

The Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA) has released a statement in response to the Kentucky House Current Budget Proposal. In the statement, the group outlines several areas where they believe more funding should be allocated, including starting pay for teachers, which can be a particular point of concern when it comes to the hiring and retention of educators in border counties, such as Whitley County.

“There is a significant gap in teachers’ beginning pay, and that is becoming apparent from state-to-state,” said Whitley County Schools Superintendent John Siler, who is among the KASA committee members asking state legislators to re-evaluate the current proposed budget, or House Bill 6 (HB6). “If Kentucky wants to be competitive in attracting young, new teachers to the state, then legislators and other people in Frankfort, including the governor, need to get on the same page.”

In their release, KASA said it “extends its gratitude to our dedicated legislators for their unwavering commitment to Kentuckians through HB 6. We understand the challenges lawmakers face when crafting budgets, and we acknowledge their dedication to the betterment of our state.”

“It is because of their desire for a better Kentucky, we are compelled to emphasize the proposed state budget, while commendable in many aspects, falls short in one critical area—enabling school districts to offer competitive teacher salaries to address the dire and growing teacher shortage,” the release went on to say. “While leaders in surrounding states, including Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana, are establishing minimum starting teacher salaries at or around $50,000, Kentucky’s average starting teacher salary rests at a meager $38,010. In one district in Kentucky, a beginning teacher makes only $34,000—after taxes and mandatory pension contributions are deducted, this drops to less than $25,000 per year.”

Based on a survey of leaders from 93 of Kentucky’s public school districts, KASA says that 53.7 percent of respondents anticipate a 0-2 percent teacher salary increase under the current budget proposal. 34.4 percent of those surveyed anticipate a 2-3 percent teacher salary increase under the current budget proposal, while 6.4 percent estimate a 3-4 percent teacher salary increase.

Other findings included 5.5 percent of respondents indicating that they could give raises over two years of no more than 5 percent, while others may need to cut salaries or reduce staff due to declines in average daily attendance. Additionally, 60 percent said the additional transportation funding would not make higher staff salaries more likely.

“These estimates assume every additional dollar received is applied only to teacher salaries – leaving local taxpayers to foot the bill for increased costs due to inflation, raises for non-teaching staff, and classroom supplies at minimum,” the release said.

Most concerning is the fact that 96 percent of respondents said the proposed budget increase will not enable the district to attract and retain teachers.

Siler breaks down what this means for Whitley County

Siler presented the Whitley County Board of Education with a short presentation last Thursday regarding HB6 and its potential impact for the school district.

The Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) funding program is how school districts throughout the state receive funding. SEEK money is used to fund the operational needs of each school district.

According to Siler, HB 6 proposes to increase the SEEK base to $4,368 in 2025 and to $4,455 in the following year. With the base SEEK amount in 2024 set at $4,200 in 2024, that would amount to a 4 percent increase in 2025 and a 2 percent increase in 2026. However, Siler noted that despite the increase, what is being proposed will not keep up with rising inflation.

To keep up with that constant change, which has been building rapidly since 2008, the SEEK base in 2024 would need to be $5,400 per pupil.

“House Bill 6 is far from meeting our needs,” said Siler.

With state funding not matching the rising tide of inflation, every aspect of the school district’s budget takes a hit—transportation costs, teacher salaries, managing enough school resource officers, etc. Among those that have continued to be an issue for Whitley County is teacher salaries.

In the past, Siler has noted that the school district often loses teachers to more competitively-paying school districts in Tennessee or leave the education workforce entirely. And while Whitley County has provided both teachers and hourly staff with raises over the last several years, the cost of doing so is exponential.

A one percent raise to teacher salaries at Whitley County would cost the school district $265,000, according to information provided in Siler’s presentation. Those funds would also have to be pulled from the district’s general fund dollars.

Ultimately, Siler said that he was thankful for what state funding the school district receives, but called on the General Assembly to do more for all public schools throughout the state.

“I hope that legislators and the governor can reach across the aisle on this and do what needs to be done. If you’re going to be serious about education, you have to pay educators competitive salaries,” said Siler. “If other states can make this happen, then I think we can too.”