Stacey Abrams Promises a Raise to Teacher Pay
If elected governor, Abrams vows to raise minimum teacher pay to $50K
Stacey Abrams has proposed raising the minimum salary for school teachers in the Georgia public school systems to at least $50,000 a year if elected governor. This is part of her proposed four-year plan that would hike the pay of educators by nearly $10,000.
It was reported yesterday that Abrams would finance the estimated $412 Million annual cost over the next four years by relying on Georgia’s budget without increasing taxes or imposing new fees. A $1.65 Billion plan has been framed to be essential to retain teachers and improve education.
“When our pipeline is thinning and our exodus is increasing, we are losing the fight for our children’s future. We need a governor who does not see education as an election-year gimmick but sees our responsibility as a guarantee for the strongest future for our people.”
Stacey Abrams said.
The proposal would double the pledge from 2018 to hike teacher pay by just $5,000. Governor Brian Kemp made this promise just before being elected as it became a central part of his appeal. Abrams didn’t oppose the idea, however, she did oppose who was set to be carrying it out calling Kemp’s plan a “gimmick” and repeatedly warning the public he couldn’t be trusted to do such a thing.
Kemp eventually stuck to his word by signing a record $30.2 Billion budget that included the final installment of his promised hike. Kemp’s campaign has since warned that Abrams's team was understating the price tag of her proposal.
“Following the lead of her pals in the Biden administration, Stacey Abrams’ latest Hail Mary proposal for over $2 billion in new state spending annually joins an ever-growing pile of pie-in-the-sky plans that would make inflation worse and require higher taxes on Georgia families to pay for it all.”
Tate Mitchell, one of the spokespeople on Kemp’s team, said.
The Georgia Association of Educators has helped roll out the proposal. Lisa Morgan, the Georgia Association of Educators president criticized Kemp’s engineered school policy overhaul.
“Adjusted for inflation, our educators are making less now than they did in 1999. It’s not just about salaries. It’s about educators being treated as the professionals they are.”
Lisa Morgan said.
Read more about Stacy Abrams's plan HERE