Georgia Raised Teachers' Pay, But Most Never Got a Raise as Promised

Gov. Nathan Deal and lawmakers this year promised 200,000 teachers and state employees that they’d get 3 percent raises, their first substantial increase since before the Great Recession.

 

While most state employees were expected to get increases, a Georgia Department of Education survey found that only 40 percent of school districts passed along the money as a salary hike.

 

About 40 percent more used at least some of the money on a one-time bonus — not necessarily 3 percent — for fear they couldn’t afford to pay for the raise in the future if the state didn’t continue funding it.

 

Others used the extra raise money — about $300 million statewide — to reduce teacher furloughs left over from the recession or to fill holes in their school system budgets. Some districts, the Department of Education reported, are still having teachers take days off without pay to cut costs years after the recession ended.