Cobb School Employees Set To Get 1.1 Percent Raise Thanks To Governor
Money for the Cobb County School District raises comes from Gov. Nathan Deal fully funding the Quality Basic Education program. Deal added close to $167 million to the state budget.
Akili-Casundria Ramsess / Associated Press file
Cobb County School District employees are in line to get a 1.1 percent raise thanks to $10 million being added to their budget.
The money comes from Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal fully funding the Quality Basic Education program. Deal added close to $167 million to the state budget, a restoration after years of austerity cuts.
Cobb County’s proposed school budget for fiscal year 2019 already included a one-time 1.1 percent bonus for some employees.
John Stafford, the district’s spokesperson, said there was always room for a bonus.
“But not a raise for anyone,” Stafford said. “And the difference between a bonus and a raise is the raise has to be sustainable year over year, and we would not have been able to sustain a raise without the restoration of those austerity cuts.”
Stafford said the district has lost more than $500 million since 2003 because of state cuts to education spending.
Connie Jackson, with the Cobb County Association of Educators, says they are happy to get some type of raise but they deserve more.
“For some people, that’s going to be 60, 70, 80 dollars a year,” Jackson said. “That’s really not an impressive raise.”
Jackson says they would also like to see the school board raise the county’s millage rate and give employees an additional 2.5 percent raise.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the budget next month.
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