Georgia in danger of losing South's top teacher pay

ATLANTA - As the 1990s turned into the early 2000s, Georgia educators held the enviable position as easily the highest-paid teachers in the South.<br> <br> Through last year, they still clung precariously to that status, despite two lean years that followed a decade of aggressive pay raises pushed by two governors.<br> <br> This year, that could change.<br> <br> Gov. Sonny Perdue has proposed a 2 percent pay raise for teachers and other state workers in next year&#39;s budget after no raise last year and the equivalent of a 1 percent bump this year.<br> <br> Meanwhile, states like Virginia and North Carolina have closed the gap, and _ depending on several variables _ could pass Georgia when new teacher pay figures are available.<br> <br> &#34;We were all aware we were losing ground,&#34; said Merchuria Chase Williams, president of the Georgia Association of Educators. &#34;Any time you miss a year, then get a minimal raise the next year, you&#39;re going to lose ground.&#34;<br> <br> Last year, Georgia public school educators earned an average annual salary of $45,938, according to the Southern Regional Education Board. The figure trailed only Delaware and Maryland in the board&#39;s 16-state region and was $888 less than the national average.<br> <br> Georgia teachers had been $5,200 below the national average in the early &#39;90s, before Gov. Zell Miller, a former college professor, pushed a series of pay raises that moved the state&#39;s teacher-pay rank from 34th in the nation to 16th.<br> <br> Gov. Roy Barnes followed with pay raises for teachers each year of his four-year term. Between the 1993-94 and 2003-04 school years, Georgia&#39;s average teacher pay grew an impressive 49.6 percent.<br> <br> But Perdue took office in 2003 amid a national recession, and the state budget reflected that. Teachers and other state employees received no pay raise last year.<br> <br> This year, they technically received a 2 percent raise, but it didn&#39;t kick in until January _ effectively creating a 1 percent raise in overall annual salary.<br> <br> Meanwhile, other Southern states have been gaining ground on Georgia. Last year, Virginia teachers earned an average $44,628 _ $1,310 behind Georgia _ and North Carolina educators were paid $44,076 _ $1,862 behind.<br> <br> &#34;Georgia had been significantly ahead of other states,&#34; said Mark Musick, president of the Southern Regional Education Board. &#34;Georgia is still near the top, but the spread, or difference, has decreased.&#34;<br> <br> Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner has proposed a 3 percent increase in teacher pay this year. North Carolina lawmakers don&#39;t have an official proposal on the table, although there&#39;s been talk of a 3.5 percent raise.<br> <br> Other Southern states are expected to gain ground, too. Mississippi, where teachers earned just $35,684 on average last year, is considering an 8 percent raise.<br> <br> Throughout the South, &#34;three and four percent (raises) are going to be kind of the norm this year, with Mississippi probably being at the top,&#34; Musick said.<br> <br> A state&#39;s average teacher pay is affected by multiple factors besides raises approved by state lawmakers. For example, a state with more veteran educators, who earn the top pay scale, will have a higher average salary than a state with more young teachers.<br> <br> A state that institutes a new early retirement system can drop in the rankings quickly when highly paid veterans leave in large numbers.<br> <br> Georgia education officials say Perdue&#39;s 2 percent proposal _ which will cost the state about $106 million _ shows his commitment to education, considering the tight budget the state still faces.<br> <br> &#34;I know how hard it was to find that $106 million,&#34; said state schools Superintendent Kathy Cox, a former state representative. &#34;I personally don&#39;t think it&#39;s enough, but at the same time we have hospitals and the elderly and children in foster care. There&#39;s just so much in state government.&#34;<br> <br> Educators fear that if Georgia slips in the pay rankings, it will make recruiting new teachers even more difficult at a time when the entire nation faces a teacher shortage.<br> <br> &#34;When they can go other places, especially when they are young and just out of college, it&#39;s so easy for them to go where the money is,&#34; Williams said.