Teachers in Hamilton County are seeing a strong outpouring of community support ahead of a planned town hall meeting do discuss teacher compensation, according to a story in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press:
Hundreds of teachers and supporters of public education are continuing to organize ahead of a Sunday town hall aimed at discussing teacher compensation and how to fund public education in Hamilton County.
Since a group of Hamilton County Schools teachers, now called Hamilton County United, released an open letter on Oct. 20 calling out five county commissioners for voting against increased funding for public education, hundreds more have signed on.
The move comes as teachers in Hamilton are highlighting both low pay and a significant amount of uncompensated time and out-of-pocket expenses:
“If those averages apply to the entire county, we’ve got about $2.5 million in uncompensated time and expenses that we’ve given,” said Brock.
The teacher pay crisis in Hamilton County comes as districts across Tennessee struggle to attract and retain teachers. Shelby County has explored a significant pay raise and Nashville’s school board recently heard a proposal about boosting pay.
For more on education politics and policy in Tennessee, follow @TNEdReport
Your support — $5 or more today — makes publishing education news possible.
I think teaching is a very important profession, but the way things are, I would never recommend that anyone go into teaching. The pay is too low. You can’t live on it. Find a different profession that pays enough to support you.