Covid money running out for Alabama teachers, state leaders have plans to stay afloat and raise salaries

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - School districts across the state received federal funding during the pandemic, but the money is expected to run out later this year. However, education leaders say there is no need to panic because they have plans to keep school systems afloat. There is also great news for first-year teachers.

According to state superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey, the funding the state received will run out by December. But, they have allocated money in the state budget to replace it. Unfortunately, some schools could still lose reading and math coaches, or other programs.

Mackey wants educators to know that there won’t be any massive layoffs. Officials expect to see a record number of educators retire at the end of the school year, and some of those positions won’t be replaced.

However, there is some good news. In Gov. Kay Ivey’s State of the State address, she talked about increasing pay for teachers in Alabama to be the highest of all the states surrounding us. Dr. Mackey confirms that this could soon be our reality.

“If the legislature holds with it, it will be a starting salary right out of college with a bachelor’s degree of $47,600, which will be the highest starting pay for any of our surrounding pay. It’s good when you go to a college and say we pay higher than any of our surrounding states,” he says.

If it passes, that will be more than a 7% increase for first-year teachers, and the governor has also included a 2% raise for teachers K-12, and those at the community college level.

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