On Oct. 31, at 5:26 p.m., the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) Human Resources team sent an email that quickly sparked outrage among educators across the district.
The message announced that they had made the decision “to conclude hiring, high poverty, high-needs and turnaround stipends that were previously in place,” as a part of the district’s budgeting process. These stipends have traditionally included the holiday bonuses that many employees receive each December.
According to the email, the decision is tied to a broader, long-term effort to “build more sustainable compensation strategies” in order to support the goal of raising the average teacher salary to 100,000 dollars by 2030.
While the district described the move as an investment in future pay, many teachers said the immediate impact was blindsiding. It was sent six weeks before Christmas, a time when many educators rely on bonuses to pay for gifts, bills or holiday meals.
Some teachers who were already struggling to make ends meet—a portion of them relying on food stamps which, as shown by the government shutdown, are not always dependable—had to now deal with the termination of the bonuses that some were counting on.
Despite the frustration, many teachers are still hoping APS will reconsider. APS has not yet announced whether they will revisit the policy or provide alternative forms of short-term support.
For now, the district maintains that the compensation changes are part of a long-term plan aimed to make the Atlanta Public Schools the best place to work and teach, but in order to get there, they believe they must sacrifice short-term gains.