Teachers' salaries in Kentucky haven't risen, but why?

A recent report by an organization of social activists and community organizers claims Kentucky taxpayers and lawmakers are tightfisted when it comes to paying our teachers.

It’s old news that teachers’ salaries in Kentucky have been stagnant, but what gets ignored are: a) taxpayers’ large increases in contributions to teachers’ health care and pension benefits – in addition to the state per-pupil funding, AND 2) huge increases in overall per-pupil funding received by school districts.

BIPPS President @jimwatersbipps pointed out on @KET recently that between 1990 and 2020, the number of non-teaching staff in Kentucky’s public schools grew by 55% despite the fact that student enrollment only grew by only 5% and the teaching corps by 21%.

Since 1990, inflation-adjusted per-pupil funding to Kentucky’s public-school districts has increased by more than 120%, yet teachers’ salaries have largely remained the same.

Is this all the fault of stingy taxpayers or poor stewardship by an unaccountable public education system? Spoiler alert: It’s a rhetorical question.