May 2, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County should pay its educators more and build new schools for them to teach in.
Dr. Scott Little shared that message Thursday during a noon luncheon hosted by Ascension Saint Thomas DeKalb Hospital for the DeKalb County Retired Teachers Association.
Dr. Little, a local veterinarian and 4th district member of the county commission, said DeKalb County is losing quality teachers to other county school systems for better pay.
“We are losing a math teacher at the high school that any school system would be proud to get. He’s getting a $15,000 raise to go to Murfreesboro which is only a 20 minute drive from where he lives. If you talk to the five principals and the Director of Schools here they will tell you that our loss of teachers year by year is beginning to be a crisis. We’re losing quality teachers who have been with us for five to ten years and that affects education outcomes in DeKalb County. When our skilled teachers are able to take a job in the county next door for a $10,000 pay raise that’s a problem for us as a school board and county commission to address. We all know we need new schools and we’re 15 years behind building schools in DeKalb County but we need teachers to fill the schools we’re going to build. We have to take care of our teachers,” said Dr. Little.
To help make his point, Dr. Little passed out copies of average teacher salary comparisons by school systems and with the state. In DeKalb County, average teacher pay is $43,060 per year which is $3,369 below the state average and less than almost every county adjoining DeKalb.
As for new schools, Dr. Little briefed the retired teachers on the Board of Education’s proposal to build a new Pre-K to 2nd grade school on the campus of Northside Elementary to replace Smithville Elementary. While that school must be addressed first, Dr. Little said both the high school and middle school are old and overcrowded and will eventually need attention.
“These buildings are older and I’m not sure how much worse it needs to get before something is done but new schools are high on the agenda of the board of education and the new county commission. In fact we have 10 new commissioners out of the 14 on the county commission and the new commissioners believe that the overwhelming majority of that turnover in last year’s election was because of the issues with our schools. There is a strong feeling on the county commission that we need to work with the school board to get things done,” he said.
In order to make significant progress, Dr. Little said the county will need more revenue to pay for it. He cited statistics which show that while DeKalb County is 54th out of the 95 counties in the state for median household income, the local property tax rate of $1.83 per is almost the lowest in Tennessee ranked 93rd. And while nearly two thirds of the counties in Tennessee have a wheel tax, DeKalb County does not. As for school funding per pupil, DeKalb County also ranks near the bottom at 121st out of 135 districts. According to data provided by Dr. Little, DeKalb County contributes $8,394 per pupil, almost $2,000 below the state average and less than almost every adjoining county.
Dr. Little urged the retired teachers to get involved and let their feelings be known to the school board and county commission because they are respected and their opinions are valued.
“No profession has my respect more than teachers and there is no better place to be than in a room full of teachers. Teaching is in my family. My mother taught for many years as a substitute teacher. I have a daughter now who is a third grade teacher at Northside Elementary School so I know exactly what you are going through. I hear it every day. You have my admiration and hopefully you’ll get a lot more from some of your elected officials,” added Dr. Little