Can JCPS teachers expect a raise next year? Here's what Marty Pollio says
Jefferson County Public Schools teachers can expect a raise next year, though it won't be anywhere close to the bump that Republican legislators say district leaders should provide with their proposed funding increase.
The GOP budget that has passed through the House and awaits Senate approval provides districts with a 4% increase in per pupil funding next year - followed by another 2% the next year. It includes language that encourages districts to put all of their additional dollars toward raises, even as districts deal with inflated costs and a sudden drop in federal funding.
But for JCPS - which is within a county that has both high property values and a high rate of students in need - the state's funding formula breakdown will result in far less than the 4% increase other districts will receive.
Of the state's current $4,200 per student allocation, JCPS only expects to receive about $2,400 per student without an increase - an adjustment made within the funding formula based on the revenue the district receives from property taxes, Chief Financial Officer Eddie Muns said.
If the budget is approved, the funding increase next year would amount to about $7 million for JCPS, and the 2% increase the following year would bring another $600,000.
But providing just a 1% salary increase to all JCPS staff - nearly 17,000 people - would cost approximately $8.9 million.
"I have told legislators that whatever increase they bring us will go to employee raises," Superintendent Marty Pollio told The Courier Journal. "However, we're not in a situation fiscally where we can do much more than that."
Despite funding levels that do not keep up with rising costs, Pollio said the district will have to put all additional funding toward raises.
"There's no doubt that if we are going to address our hiring needs, we have to focus on increasing wages for our employees," he said.
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The district is short about 350 teachers.
JCPS teachers - not working in special capacities - made about $56 an hour, or nearly $74,000 a year, in the 2022-2023 school year, according to payroll records. That rate, though, is driven up by some teachers who worked in addition to the normal work week. The state's average teacher salary is $54,574, according to the National Education Association.
While the per student increase still wouldn't pay for all of the 1% bump, JCPS could see additional funding come from the state for transportation - which could free up more local funds.
While Kentucky law requires the state to fully fund the cost of public school student transportation, lawmakers have been funding school transportation only partially for nearly two decades. In the last budget, 70% of transportation costs were funded.
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As a result, districts have had to use local revenue to make up the difference. However, the GOP budget proposal would bump transportation funding for districts to 80% next year and 100% the year after.
Contact Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Can JCPS teachers expect a raise in salary for 2024-25 school year?
