Budget season is officially wrapped for Atlanta Public Schools.
The Atlanta Board of Education on Monday approved a record $1.8 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year. APS is expecting its spending to increase in the next year by about $86 million, a 7% jump from last year’s budget, primarily due to salary hikes and new investments in student nutrition.
Here are some of the budget’s highlights.
Big raises for teachers
The district plans to spend $58.9 million on salary increases, stipends, and cost-of-living adjustments. APS teachers can expect an 11% salary increase, the largest in at least 15 years, according to officials. Teachers will also receive an additional $2,500 increase from the state’s FY2025 budget, which Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed into law in May.
Incoming salaries for teachers start at $54,735, making the district one of the highest payers in the state.
Investing in reading instruction
The district plans to spend $11.8 million for literacy initiatives, and to ensure literacy coaches are available for students in each of its 55 elementary schools. In 2022, only 25% of eighth grade students in the district were reading at proficient level, according to a report National Assessment of Educational Progress.
APS will also spend $9 million for special education services and $7.8 million for additional support-level positions.
A new in-house nutrition program
The district currently works with Arizona-based company Southwest Foodservice Excellence to serve more than 40,000 students breakfast and lunch daily. But that will change; APS plans to use $15.4 million to create an in-house nutrition program. This means the district will manage and operate its own food services, rather than outsourcing to external vendors.
The millage rate is staying put, for now
APS is proposing to keep the millage rate at 20.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The millage rate is a tax rate APS uses to calculate the amount of property taxes residents living in the school district have to pay.
The district says its principles for considering a millage rate increase include strategic investments, continuous improvement in resource use, and the impact of unfunded mandates or revenue losses.
Where can I find the budget information for myself?
You can read APS’s FY2025 budget primer below.
