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Parkway teacher tells board inflation has eroded pay and asks for a recovery plan
Summary
A Parkway South High teacher told the board that inflation has cut starting and mid-career teacher pay since 2019–20, urging better communication and a plan to restore competitiveness; the board did not vote on pay but acknowledged fiscal pressures during budget discussion.
Drew Jennings, a teacher at Parkway South High School, told the Parkway Board of Education on Nov. 12 that teacher pay has been “gutted since COVID” and urged the board to develop a plan to restore salaries to pre-pandemic purchasing power.
Jennings said that a 2019–20 starting salary of $43,000 would equal roughly $54,300 in today’s dollars using Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation adjustments, while the district’s current starting salary is $48,000. “That starting salary is lost over 20% when adjusted for inflation,” Jennings said, adding that a top-step salary that was $98,000 in 2019–20 would be about $123,752 today while the district’s top pay now is $106,750.
Jennings framed the presentation as a mix of his calculations, personal experience and a request for communication and planning. “What we’re asking for … is just some communication that this is an issue that we’re all aware of,” he said, asking the board to consider a structured approach like the recovery after the 2008–09 financial crisis.
Board members acknowledged the district is facing fiscal pressure from rising health-care and other costs and that state-level budget conversations could affect future revenue. No board vote or directive to change salary schedules was taken during the meeting. Instead, the discussion continued into the board’s regular budget review and broader reports on state budget risks and compensation studies being planned.
The teacher’s figures were presented as his own inflation-adjusted calculations; board members did not dispute those numbers on the record but noted the district is analyzing compensation and reviewing a separate compensation study listed on the agenda.
