State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), chairman of the Senate education budget committee, will be filing a bill that will increase the pay of principals and assistant principals, as well as aid in professional development for the administrators
According to Alabama Daily News, Orr believes that principals and assistant principals are vital to the educational system throughout Alabama.
“Bringing up their compensation is critical to keeping good principals in education and so much of it comes down to being able to provide for their families,”
Executive Director of the Council of Leaders in Alabama Schools Vic Wilson has been helping Orr to craft the bill and also believes administrators play an important role in the educational experience for students.
“All of the research points to a teacher having the largest impact on student learning,” stated Wilson. “Second only to a teacher are the principals and assistant principals. Last year, we worked hard to insure that teachers were compensated properly. Now we’re going to be working hard to do the same for our principals and assistant principals.”
In 2022 lawmakers passed a pay raise for public school teachers across the state. However, some principals did not benefit from the raise, according to Wilson. Examples of the compensation that came with the raises included:
- A teacher who holds a bachelor’s degree and 10 years of experience went from earning a minimum salary of $48,822 to $51,795;
- A teacher with a bachelor’s degree and 20 years of experience went from a minimum salary of $51,810 to $57,214;
- A teacher with a master’s degree and 25 years of experience went from a minimum salary of $61,987 to $69,151.
Wilson also noted that there are approximately 1,440 public schools in Alabama and principal’s salaries are not always uniform. The lowest payment annually for a principal in the state is around $62,000.
Senator Orr estimates that the bill’s proposal will cost around $20 million dollars. He asserted that important conversations on the topic of educational funding will take place when the new legislative session begins in March.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
