Hamilton County teacher compensation plan revealed

HIXSON, Tenn. (WDEF) — Hamilton County school leaders and education advocates revealed their teacher compensation proposal.

“Teachers we can no longer accept the status quo,” said Steven Hinkle, a literacy coach with East Brainerd Elementary School.

That was the message Wednesday afternoon as the collaborative conferencing team revealed their teacher compensation proposal.

Highlights include $2,300 in additional pay on average for Hamilton County teachers, an entry salary of more than $40,000 and a one-time $1,500 bonus.

This comes after Hamilton County Commissioners rejected the budget which would have required a 34 cent tax increase for education.

“I think this is a great start for the efforts that we are trying to push for the teachers in Hamilton County but we also need parental support and we need help from our stakeholders in the community to get where we need to be,” said Tracy Davis, a special education teacher at Orchard Knob Elementary School.

In addition to increasing the starting base salary, teachers would have step increases averaging $800.

“After multiple years of stagnation for base pay teachers deserve a ten percent base increase that honors the profession and finally makes district pay competitive surrounding districts and other local industries,” said Jim Boles, the principal of CSAS Upper.

Dr. Bryan Johnson, the Hamilton County Schools superintendent, says this was a team effort.

“We had a great collaborative conferencing season with the collaborative conferencing team and really dug into what we heard from teachers, what we heard from students, what we heard from the community at large in regards to the needs of our public schools,” Johnson said.

Hamilton County School board members will vote on the revised budget on Thursday.

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