During debates on teacher pay and retirement benefits at the state Capitol each year, one of the most repeated lines is that educators don't get into the profession for the money.
They get into it because they love what they do, they say. And the money bit is certainly true for a vast majority of k-12 teachers and many college professors. The average pay for teachers in Georgia is about $55,000, and the starting salary out of college is about $34,000.
But there is good money for those at the very top of the education pay scale, the big-city school superintendents, top university administrators and professors who are leaders in lucrative fields, according to figures from the state’s salary website, Open Georgia.
For fiscal 2018, which ended June 30 of last year, the highest paid person in state government, k-12 schools and the University System of Georgia was University of Georgia football coach Kirby Smart, who Open Georgia listed as earning $6.425 million. That such coaches at nationally renowned schools make big money isn’t surprising.
Below are some of the top salaries for non-athletics department coaches and staff in fiscal 2018, according to Open Georgia.
Top superintendents pay
Credit: TAYLOR CARPENTER / AJC
Credit: TAYLOR CARPENTER / AJC
University presidents
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Credit: ccompton@ajc.com
Other faculty and staffThis is a sample of what other notable university employees make and not a list of the highest paid workers.
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