After years of spending rapidly increasing revenues on new programs and pay increases, many of Georgia’s school districts are beginning to tighten their belts.
Most of the state’s 180 traditional K-12 public school districts have set spending plans for the budget year that began July 1. While a few are still giving pay raises, others are eliminating vacant positions as enrollment falls and property tax growth flattens. Many districts are dipping into savings accounts that ballooned during the pandemic to avoid spending cuts, at least for one more year.
What’s happening isn’t a financial crisis, like the aftermath of the Great Recession, when Georgia school districts laid off thousands of teachers and imposed pay cuts on many more. Districts are avoiding raising property tax rates amid voter discontent over tax bills. But there’s a definite shift in the wind, with contraction on the horizon, as student numbers shrink and Republicans clamor for property tax cuts.
“We’re at the point where things are about to shift,” said Valdosta Superintendent Craig Lockhart.
Thanks to increases in state spending, growth in property values and a deluge of pandemic-era federal aid, Georgia’s school systems saw big growth in recent years.
Total revenue and spending both rose by almost 50% from 2018 to 2024, according to data from the Georgia Department of Audit and Accounts. Districts rolled up big savings accounts, with unassigned fund balances jumping from $2.4 billion statewide in 2019 to $5.2 billion in 2024.
Schools boosted pay. The average Georgia teacher made $67,641 in 2024, according to the Southern Regional Education Board, up from $56,329 in 2018, although that increase fell behind the rate of inflation.
Districts also hired more. From 2019 to 2025, schools statewide hired the equivalent of 18,000 more full-time employees, boosting headcount by 8% even as enrollment fell 1%, according to the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University.
“They weren’t only piling the money up, they were adding staff in a lot of cases,” said Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a free-market think tank.
But during budget discussions in May and June, many district leaders said the party’s over.
“There will be hurdles that we have to overcome from a revenue standpoint, especially to maintain our current educational service level,” Coweta County Superintendent Evan Horton told school board members May 18.
The 23,000-student district eliminated teaching positions, mostly in high schools, administrators said.
“Through attrition, we’re reducing 47 teaching positions. No one is losing a job,” Assistant Superintendent Keith Chapman told Coweta board members.
A number of districts are balancing budgets by dipping into reserves. The Georgia Recorder found that six of Georgia’s 10 largest school districts plan to spend down accumulated cash this year, using $175 million in savings overall.
Some withdrawals are small – Cobb County plans to spend $6 million, an amount that frugal spending or higher-than-expected property tax collections could make up. But Fulton County plans to spend $57 million of its $269 million fund balance. The district with 85,000 students says it’s using its savings as a cushion while it whittles down expenses to a sustainable level over multiple years.
Some reductions could be painful. Fulton County’s budget includes a furlough day next May, cutting pay for all employees by one day. Districts relied heavily on furloughs to save money during the recession.
The furlough day may not happen. Fulton County also proposed a one-day furlough in the just-ended budget, but found enough money to pay employees for their full contracts. But Chief Financial Officer Marvin Dereef said he couldn’t remember when Fulton last furloughed employees. “I guess it has been a very long time,” he said.
Some districts are still spending. Cherokee County plans a 3% pay raise. Atlanta is giving a 1% pay raise and plans to cut its property tax rate. But most districts fear revenue constrained by limits on property taxes and declining enrollment, while insurance and pension costs keep rising.
Enrollment in Georgia peaked at 1.77 million students in 2019, never fully recovered after the pandemic, and has been falling since 2023, driven mostly by fewer children being born. State aid is generally sent to districts on a per-student basis, so fewer students means less state money.
“The new reality for most of these districts is going to be declining enrollment,” Wingfield said.
Districts could turn to local taxes for more revenue, but angry taxpayers and Republican lawmakers are limiting their taxing power. Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law in May that caps property tax assessments at the rate of inflation, meaning districts won’t benefit as much from collecting the same tax rate on rising property values. The 2026 law came after most districts opted out of an earlier cap passed by voters in 2024.
Some districts are already hitting limits on property tax collections. Fulton County has been under a local assessment cap, and after lawmakers approved additional senior citizen exemptions, the district expects property tax revenue to fall from $856 million to $830 million. In 40,000-student Cherokee County, district officials say that 30% of total property value is now exempt from taxation.
Valdosta’s Lockhart says that crunch portends hard choices.
“You cut as much as you can, but you get to a place where you can no longer provide quality service,” Lockhart. “I’m both an educator and a homeowner, I don’t want my taxes raised. However I have a sworn duty to take care of my students.”
This story was provided by WABE media partner the Georgia Recorder.
