Jefferson County teachers taking taxpayers to the cleaners?

Across the state, newspapers and newscasts are alive with stories of school districts having to cut back on staff.

However, in teachers-union-dominated Jefferson County, the teachers are taking cash-strapped taxpayers to the cleaners.

The Courier-Journal reports that Jefferson County Public Schools teachers will get a 2.5 percent pay raise this coming school year.

That’s really an outrage.

In the just completed 2010-11 school term, Jefferson County’s average classroom teacher’s salary was $56,129, ranking second in the entire state, only outdone by the fabulously wealthy Anchorage Independent School District.

However, the most recent ACT EXPLORE Test Composite Scores for our 8th grade students show Jefferson County ranks 148 out of 174 school districts.

Top pay for near-bottom performance – no wonder Jefferson County Teachers Association president Brent McKim says the new pay raise is a “remarkable bargaining agreement for Jefferson County teachers.”

Of course, when your union is known for putting up $100,000 or more per candidate in local school board races, maybe this isn’t so remarkable.

But, Jefferson County tax payers are getting a bad deal here. And, so are all the other services and sectors in Louisville, public and private, that won’t see such largesse as overall belts continue to tighten while teachers in the city suck up more and more scarce resources.