Inflation Swallows Recent Teacher Salary Increases

This year, lawmakers passed a $290 million increase to the state salary schedule for certified teachers and certified employees in Georgia public schools. The base salary for FY 2024 is $41,092 for 10 months of employment.

Governor Kemp has made teacher pay raises a primary education policy goal and successfully led the General Assembly in allocating raises of $3,000 in FY 2020, $2,000 in FY23 and $2,000 for this next year’s budget. These additions are welcome to a profession that saw stagnant state funding in the years following the Great Recession. The cost of living has increased at a rate that, even with the pay increases, the buying power of the teacher base salary is thousands of dollars less than it was 15 years ago. If salaries kept pace with inflation, teachers paid the base salary in 2023 would have made $7,700 more annually—$385 more per pay period.

Teacher shortages—in rural schools or those serving more students in poverty, as well as for specific positions such as special education—will only increase if districts do not have the funding to ensure competitive wages. Further, any attempts to recruit more teachers of color, a must-have to address the needs of Georgia’s students, will fall flat while public school employees incur a financial penalty for entering the classroom.

Teacher Base Salaries Continue to Lag Growing Cost of Living

Note: A constant dollar is an adjusted value of currency based on purchasing power, used to recognize impact of inflation.

Source: Georgia State Salary Schedule FY10-FY24; CPI-adjusted FY10 dollars.