Pickett County Schools set to increase teacher salaries by $2,000 across the board for this year’s fiscal budget.
Director of Schools Diane Elder said that is part of efforts to meet Governor Bill Lee’s new teacher salary threshold. She said this increases teacher base pay from $40,000 to $42,000.
“I think teachers are very underpaid compared to several districts, we are very underpaid,” Elder said. “But we are on our way. You’ve got to make baby steps.”
Elder said the increase will be implemented for the coming school year. She said this will apply to all teachers with valid teacher’s licenses. Elder said they are hopeful they will be able to afford this as a recurring cost.
She said they have not had to go to the county commission and request more of this type of funding in 16 years, and she hopes they will not have to.
“Most of our teachers when they come to Pickett County it’s a place they want to stay, it’s a place they want to live,” Elder said. “So our rate of retaining teachers is very high, very few move. It’s like me, I was raised in Pickett County it’s where I wanted to work and it’s where I’ve worked for 43 years and most of our teachers have that attitude.”
Elder said they want to make these teaching jobs more attractive to these teachers and to pay teachers what they’re worth.
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