Experts: Georgia must spend more on teacher pay, mental health in schools

The year was 1985.

Ronald Reagan was president. Andrew Young was reelected mayor of Atlanta. New Coke premiered and quickly fizzled. “Back to the Future” and “Beverly Hills Cop” topped the box office. The Atlanta Hawks’ Dominique Wilkins soared above the competition, including a rookie named Michael Jordan, to win the NBA Slam Dunk competition.

It was also the year the Georgia Legislature passed the Quality Basic Education Act to help fund the state’s public schools.

State lawmakers, along with some governors, have tried — and failed — several times in recent years to update the formula. It’s antiquated, many say. For example, Georgia is one of only a handful of states that does not give schools extra money to deal with poverty.

With Monday’s start of this year’s legislative session, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a series of guest essays from education leaders and policy analysts offering their opinions about how the formula could be modernized or what areas should receive additional funding. We asked readers for their thoughts on the AJC’s Get Schooled Facebook page. The comments, several hundred of them, mirrored many of the themes in the opinion pieces.

Here are five topics discussed by the authors in the series:

Higher teacher salaries

State lawmakers have increased teacher pay several times in recent years. Georgia, though, ranks 39th nationally for average teacher starting salary, and 20th for average overall teacher salary, according to research by the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute.

“Given current shortages for classroom teachers and most categories of school employees, Georgia must be competitive for starting salaries not only with other states but also with other professions if we wish to recruit and retain our educators,” Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, wrote in her essay.

Additionally, many AJC readers called for changes in the teacher salary schedule. Currently, teachers stop receiving salary increases based on experience after 21 years in the classroom, although many work more years.

Smaller class sizes

Georgia’s public schools have had larger class sizes than the national average, according to recent federal data. Many educators and parents believe smaller class sizes allow teachers to focus more on their students, which has the potential to improve student outcomes. Some want Georgia lawmakers to offer incentives to school districts that reduce class sizes.

Morgan suggested more funding to allow public schools to lower class sizes.

“What if we reduce class sizes to create a more personalized learning environment for our kids?”

More money for mental health services

Georgia, like nearly every state, does not have the recommended number of school counselors. The American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students. The Peach State had a counselor for approximately 378 students, according to the most recent analysis by the association.

Additionally, the National Association of School Psychologists recommends one school psychologist for every 500 students. In Georgia, appropriations provide for one psychologist for every 2,000 students.

The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education’s Matt Smith wrote “legislators could choose to fund mental health and wellness staff or provide block grants that allow district leaders to execute programming as they choose.”

Better pay for paraprofessionals

Morgan wrote many school support professionals — which include paraprofessionals — have no state salary minimum. State School Superintendent Richard Woods called for a competitive state salary schedule for paraprofessionals and other classified staff, such as bus drivers, in a November op-ed posted on the state Department of Education’s website.