Teacher Pay
Georgia is losing its best teachers. Courtney will fight to bring them back.
Courtney will champion a $55,000 minimum starting salary for Georgia teachers and fight to keep the best educators in District 68 classrooms.
The Challenge
What District 68 families are actually facing
Georgia ranks near the bottom nationally for teacher pay. District 68 schools in South Fulton and across Fayette County are losing experienced educators to states that pay more. When a teacher cannot afford to live in the community they serve, the community loses that teacher. The result is high turnover, inconsistent instruction, and students who bear the cost of a system that does not value the people teaching them.
Courtney's Position
Raising Teacher Pay
Courtney will champion a $55,000 minimum starting salary for Georgia teachers and fight to keep the best educators in District 68 classrooms.
Support This FightLegislative Commitments
Specific actions. Not talking points.
Every item below is a specific legislative action Courtney will pursue in her first term.
- 1
Champion a $55,000 minimum starting salary for Georgia teachers as a floor, not a ceiling.
- 2
Fight for competitive teacher compensation tied to experience and performance that makes District 68 schools attractive to the best educators in the state.
- 3
Support retention bonuses and loan forgiveness programs for teachers who commit to high-need schools in South Fulton and Fayette County.
- 4
Advocate for housing assistance programs for teachers so they can afford to live in the communities they serve.
- 5
Push for full state funding of teacher pay increases rather than shifting the burden to local property taxes.
What Courtney Says
The argument in her own words.
"Georgia is losing teachers to other states because we pay less. A $55,000 starting salary changes that math."
"A teacher who cannot afford to live in the community they serve is a teacher we are about to lose. Compensation is a retention strategy."
"Every time a District 68 school loses an experienced teacher, students pay the price. I will fight to stop that from happening."
"Teacher pay is not a budget line. It is a signal about what we value. Right now Georgia's signal is wrong. I will change it."
"Competitive pay attracts the best educators. The best educators build stronger students. Stronger students build stronger communities. It starts with pay."
Your Community
What this solution means where you live.
The same fight shows up differently depending on where you are in District 68.
South Fulton
South Fulton schools have added students faster than teacher compensation has grown. Courtney will fight for pay that makes District 68's fastest-growing city competitive for the best educators in Georgia.
College Park
College Park teachers serve students who deserve stability and consistency in their classrooms. Competitive pay is how you keep experienced educators from leaving for higher-paying districts or states.
Fayette County
Fayette County Schools have historically performed well partly because of a stable teaching workforce. Courtney will protect that stability by fighting for state-level teacher pay that keeps educators in Fayette County classrooms.