GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — House Bill 6 tackles many financial issues for the state’s public school system, and that’s a good thing, but when it comes to offering their employees a significant raise, it doesn’t scratch the surface.
On Wednesday morning, Scott County superintendent Billy Parker invited members of the community and fellow superintendents from the state to listen in on a presentation about HB 6 and how it’ll impact the state’s schools.
“While these increases are significant, and they are appreciated, they all come to us as on-behalf payments from the state, and as such, we cannot use them toward employee compensation,” Parker said during his presentation.
Parker was referring to the 484 million dollars in added revenue that HB 6 allows for the schools. Still, significant chunks of that money will be earmarked for things such as the school buildings, employee health insurance premiums, and retirement account matching percentages. SEEK, the Support Education Excellence in Kentucky fund is primarily responsible for teacher raises.
“You see four percent and automatically think it's a four percent increase, but as you can see, it's offset by the local effort, and a lot of taxpayers would have to come with a little more to make that a true four percent,” said Woodford County superintendent, Danny Adkins.
Adkins’ district implemented 5% raises a year ago and will be able to do another 1.5% over the next two years. Far from the 11% threshold, Governor Andy Beshear would like to see. Mr. Beshear believes that can be accomplished by tapping into the Kentucky “rainy day fund,” which he has noted currently has a healthy surplus.
Madison County Schools superintendent said that a closer look at the numbers would indicate that there will be a decrease in funding when it comes to the SEEK or Tier-1 they can use for raises.
“The number in the biennium, over the two years compared to the last biennium, is budget is actually a 42 million dollar decrease,” Gilliam stated.
Gilliam said many teachers are forced to look for second and even third jobs to make ends meet, which makes it challenging to attract and retain quality teachers. He added that if teaching is going to be a middle-class profession, the commitment to make it such needs to be there.
Parker called today’s meeting to thank legislators for language in the bill that affords superintendents the autonomy to make decisions that are best for each district and community.
In Scott County, Parker said they could do a 2% raise for staff next year but nothing further in year two without asking taxpayers to cover that cost.
