Metro Council approves a lower cost of living increase for teachers than regular Metro Nashville employees

Metro Council approved a 6 percent cost of living increase for Metro Nashville employees Tuesday night, but teachers won’t be receiving the same amount. The council’s $3.2 billion substitute budget only included the 4 percent cost of living raise for Metro Nashville Public School employees that Mayor John Cooper proposed last month.The council debated two amendments to give Metro employees a larger raise, but those discussions didn’t include extra money for teachers either. Council Member and mayoral candidate Freddie O’Connell (District 19) expressed concern about the discrepancy.“I know we’re trying to pay Metro employees more but we are leaving other folks behind and I think as we go forward from this moment, we need to make sure that as we are starting to adjust pay on the fly and help people that we are continuing to keep teachers and support staff in mind as we go forward and this won’t do anything for them if we advance this and neither will the other amendment,” said O’Connell.Council Members also approved Mayor Cooper’s proposal to provide Metro Schools with $100 million in new operating spending, but they made a few changes to the mayor’s plan for school projects.Mayor Cooper’s proposed a one-time allocation of $66 million in surplus funds to build Pre-K space, an addition for Alex Green Elementary School, and other capital improvement projects. The council’s budget allows the money to be used for any one-time purpose, not just capital expenses.Members also approved nearly $3 million to pay for improved substitute pay and other district programs.Council Member Kevin Rhoten (District 14) led the budget committee that created the substitute budget. He pushed back on any suggestions that Metro isn’t providing money to pay teachers adequately.“We put $175 million new dollars into schools which is a lot,” said Rhoten. “They have money in their budget believe me.  If they want to give a raise to their teachers or additional money to anyone, they have the money to do it. So, I don’t want anyone to think they don’t have the money to do that.”