Q. Who gets the final say on teacher raises?
Graphic/Ian-Alijah Bey
Answered by Mary Helen Montgomery (maryhelen@theenterprisectr.org) and William Newlin (william@chattamatters.com)
How much of a raise will teachers get this year? That question has been at the heart of the recent disagreements over the school budget between school and county leaders.
School funding works differently in Tennessee than it does in most other states, where school boards levy their own taxes to fund public schools. In Tennessee, counties impose taxes and share the revenues with the schools.
So, each year, the School Board asks the County Commission for money. Schools do get funding from other sources, too (the state and federal governments and sales tax, to name a few), but a significant portion of their budget comes from property taxes. And the County Commission gets to decide how much property tax revenue to give them.
Historically, the County Commission has split county property taxes roughly in half — with about 50% going to schools, and 50% going to county government to pay for the health department, the sheriff’s department, and other services. But in recent years, the share going to schools has gotten smaller — schools currently get 43% of property taxes.
This year, the School Board asked for half of property taxes again, which would have been about $22 million more in local funds versus last year’s budget. The additional dollars they requested would have paid for a $2,800 raise for teachers and all other full-time school employees.
At their June 26 meeting, though, the County Commission voted to allocate the same amount of property tax revenue to schools as last year. They also tacked on an additional $5 million in non-tax dollars to go toward raises.
In short, the County Commission decides how much money to give schools, and the School Board decides how to spend it. Pending final approval by the County Commission on July 3, the next HCS budget will include a $1,750 raise for all full-time employees.
Related story: Home prices are high — why is property tax revenue 'incredibly low'?
